


Seventeen & The Rise of Godslayer

by Misspellings_on_purpoise, The_Lazy_Doormouse



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, How Do I Tag, Humor, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Multiple, Quests, Rating May Change, Rick Riordan Demigod Universe | Riordanverse, Romance, Tags May Change, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Whump, With Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 48,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25405264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misspellings_on_purpoise/pseuds/Misspellings_on_purpoise, https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lazy_Doormouse/pseuds/The_Lazy_Doormouse
Summary: The Gods are going silent, while an ancient, forgotten foe is running loose. His first stop: to kill the Legendary Demigod and destroy Camp Half-Blood. It is now up to the small Demigod Camp in South Korea, to find the Gods and fight for survival.But Seungcheol doesn't feel ready, Jeonghan is trying to keep everyone alive, Joshua is trying to keep his brother alive, Jun is trying not to get drunk, Hoshi is a fanboy, Wonwoo needs more hugs, Woozi doesn't want any hugs, Minghao keeps picking fights, Mingyu is surprisingly possessive, DK is confused, Seungkwan has enough of everyone's bullshit, Vernon is new to all this and Dino just wanna be a Hero....How in Tartarus are they going to survive?
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 29
Kudos: 90





	1. Prologue: Death Of A Legend

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a crossover between Seventeen & PJO Fandom.  
> Yes, Seventeen Members are Demigods with powers.  
> Yes, Some PJO Charas will appear in this fic.  
> No, Its not a Happy Fic where everyone lives. U see those tags? Some main charas WILL DIE.  
> Who will die? Well read on. But u have been WARNED!

In the middle of a battlefield, the hero clicked his tongue.

He was seriously getting too old for this. Probably around 30 years too old for these kinds of intense fighting. Each time he swung his beloved sword, he could hear his muscles screaming in pain. Each time he used his powers, he could feel the exhaustion sweeping over him like a tidal wave. But even after being knocked over countless times, he still stood right back up. 

Because he had to. 

Because he grew up here and grew to love this place. 

Because his family, friends and teachers were fighting together with him. 

Because somewhere along the way, he became their symbol of hope. 

As Nico had jokingly mentioned before, it was part of, “The perks of being one of the strongest demigods of this era”. 

The thought of his friend summoned a fresh wave of worry in him. Nico and his husband had gone missing three months ago, right around the time the seal became undone. 

At first, he was worried that the couple had perished during the battle to protect the seal. However so far, the unsealed jerk in front of him didn’t say anything about killing a child of Hades. So he took that as good news. The bad news was, he seemed to be losing now.

As if the fates were reading his mind, his opponent’s sword found itself deeply embedded in his thigh, effectively pinning him to the ground. A cry escaped his lips as he fell to his knees. He felt, rather than saw, Riptide being kicked away from his grasp.

Through the haze of pain, he looked up to study his opponent. Unlike his own tattered and bloodied appearance, the other guy looked as if he had just finished a long jog around Central Park. It was hard to believe that his opponent was just a mere mortal. Then again, he had never heard of a mortal who could kill monsters and _permanently kill the Gods_. Make sense why the old guys in Olympus sealed him for over a millennium. 

“Any last words?”

An influx of words immediately flooded his brain. Because deep down, he knew it. This was a fight he could not win. He had a really long, loving message for his wife, Annabeth, but as always, his mouth never listened to his brain.

“Dude, are you sure you are human?”

His opponent’s eyebrow rose in surprise and his lips twitched to form a small smile.

“You really are an interesting Demigod. I am indeed human. I do not have a drop of the wretched blood of the Gods in me.”

“You really hate them huh?”

The Godslayer’s eyes turned dark.

“I made a vow in front of my wife and children’s graves that I will kill every single one of the Gods. And I intend to fulfill that vow.” 

The hero flashed his trademarked grin. “They won’t let you. The other Demigods will stop you.”

“If I have to kill every single demigod to reach the Gods...then so be it. That is why I first have to kill their symbol of hope.” The Godkiller said grimly.

Forty years old Percy Jackson, could only watch as the opponent’s sword rose up. Like all cliche death goes, time started to slow down. Around him, Camp-Half blood was in flames as monsters ran amok and preyed on demigods. Behind his enemy, Percy saw Annabeth trying to run towards him, while Grover firmly held her back. He made a mental note to thank his best friend later. Maybe he could leave a message to Thanatos when he reached the underworld.

As an additional last thought, Percy hoped that his wife and the kids would be able to escape from their second-home and supposedly safe haven. 

He vaguely heard his name being called out, but Percy had no strength left to see who had called for him. Unfortunately, his time was up, as was prophesied beforehand. He could no longer answer the call for help. He could no longer stand for his demigod brothers and sisters. He would never see his children grow up, never do crazy stuff with his friends...never hold Annabeth again. How he wished he had kissed her in the morning.

“Thank you and farewell, Perseus Jackson.” 

The Godkiller’s sword swung down and Percy Jackson exhaled his final breath.


	2. Ch 1 - Despair (Seungcheol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prologue doesn't count, so here's the first chapter of the week~  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Hope u like it!

“Percy’s Dead.” was the news that came from Grover Underwood, the satyr, best friend of Percy, heir to Pan, the current Lord of the Wild and one of the lucky few, who had made it out alive from Camp Half Blood. 

A deathly silence fell on Camp Banshin (Camp 반신), the only safe haven for the demigods in Asia. Compared to the west, they are the youngest, smallest and the weakest Demigod Camp. 

Choi Seungcheol, the current leader of Camp Half blood, the son of Zeus, was the quickest to recover.

“What about the others?” he asked, trying to keep the hope alive in the camp. To his dismay, Grover's face darkened even further. The satyr’s lips started to quiver and tears pooled around his eyes, but he remained silent. 

A female voice answered him. 

“Gone…everyone of them is gone. Chiron’s gone, Nico’s gone, even the bloody gods are gone.” said Annabeth, daughter of Athena, the wife of Percy and a mother of two. All eyes were on her as she limped out of the Athena’s cabin, her eyes full of grief and resentment. 

Though they all do not know Percy personally, all of the campers have heard of his heroic tales. He was a legend among them. Hearing about his death from his wife and best friend was devastating. Seungcheol saw the looks on the campers’ faces, full of fear and despair. A look that was out of place, compared to their usual, bright and happy atmosphere. Sobs could be heard all over the camp. 

It was terrifying.

Seungcheol could feel the fear creeping up on him, crippling and hindering his ability to lead the whole camp. He only knew that he must not cry, he could not collapse here. If he did, this camp is as good as gone.

It was then, when a soft and gentle voice broke through the stifling silence.

“Now now, if you all want to cry, please cry. Don’t keep it in.” it was Jeonghan, Son of Aphrodite, the Angel...well, sort of. The boy offered them a sad smile. “Let it all out and then let’s figure out what we should do next.” 

It was during these moments, that Seungcheol felt like kissing Jeonghan. On normal days, Jeonghan was a devil but when any of the campers were truly in need of help, Jeonghan would step forward and ensure that they could all move together as one. 

Jeonghan gave a benevolent smile to the campers, before glancing towards him, eyes slightly softening as if he could read the troubles plaguing Seuncheol’s mind. 

_Ah~_ Seungcheol thought. Jeonghan is truly such an angel. 

“Yes, everyone! All is not over yet! We are all still here! As long as we are alive, nothing is impossible!” The Son of Apollo, Seungkwan declared enthusiastically, trying to lighten the mood. “Let us all grieve for one day and eat all the ramyeon in the camp and let’s prepare for another day!” 

“I’ll do the cooking.” Mingyu, Son of Hephaestus and the resident cook, piped up as he shuffled towards his personal kitchen to begin preparing the food.

Though the dark atmosphere has been elevated, the fear and tension was still present. Even if the mood turned for the better, the fact that a monster managed to destroy Camp Half Blood could not be erased. Seungcheol knew he had to fix this somehow. He would not allow his family to be destroyed. 

With that goal in mind, he headed towards Annabeth.

“Tell me more about this monster that killed Percy. We need to know the details in order to decide what to do.”

Annabeth eyed him warily but eventually gave in with a sigh. “Take a seat, I’ll tell you everything.” 

Once Seungcheol was seated, Annabeth began her tale.

“This monster...is not a monster but a mortal...or at least that is what he claims. He called himself _The Godslayer_. There was no information on him. The Gods just disappeared on us and this Godslayer came to camp with monsters from the depth of Tartarus. Monsters that I have never heard or seen before. I mean...we were just visiting the camp...we're just visiting...if we didn't visit that day....” Annabeth choked, “I’m sorry for being selfish but...I wished that we never went… then maybe he would've still be by my side.” 

Seungcheol held back his own tears and leaned in to give her a warm hug. “Don’t worry about being selfish, we’re all selfish in the face of love.” 

At his answer, Annabeth seemed to break down. Tears ran down her cheek as she cried in frustration and grief.

“That idiot! If only he listened to me and ran away! And those cowardly Gods...How could they abandon us during our time of dire need! Why can’t they warn us or at least send a prophecy or something! I won’t even mind if they send a warning in a form of lightning...just a little warning would do…”

Seungcheol let her cry as he held onto her, offering his silent support as best as he could. 

Thus, it took him awhile to fully understand her words. And when he did, Seungcheol felt his blood froze.

“Wait a minute...Are you saying that there was no prophecy to warn the camp?” 

The daughter of Athena wiped her tears and nodded sadly. 

Seungcheol stood up, fear and dread seeping deeper into his heart. 

“That means we have no guidance, no warning, even if he is right outside of our camp now...we have no way of knowing.” 

“Yes, I think so...at least that was what happened to us at Camp Half Blood.”

“...Shit.” 

Seungcheol turned to look at all the campers, there were only 50 in total, and each of them were all his precious family members. 

There was no time to waste. If the gods would not help, then they would have to take things into their own hands and settle this their way. The gods can eat crap for all he cares. 

_Nobody_ is touching any of his campers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to keep track:  
> Seungcheol - Son of Zeus  
> Jeonghan - Son of Aphrodite  
> Seungkwan - Son of Apollo  
> Mingyu - Son of Hephaestus  
> All of them are Cabin Leaders. Don't worry the rest of Seventeen will appear soon :)  
> Like uncle Rick, each chapters will be told from different POV of the main members.  
> We're just getting started. Tks for reading^^


	3. Ch 2 - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (Seungcheol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's the weekly chapter update~  
> As usual, pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any.  
> Enjoy the story~

Seungcheol handled this like how he handled most of his problems. 

He went straight to Jeonghan.

He needed his angelic face to calm him down right now. Besides, he would need Jeonghan to calm the campers when he made the announcement. 

He found the said angel, munching on a Ramyeon while staring straight at him. The son of Zeus made a beeline straight to his friend.

“What’s making you so jittery?” Jeonghan asked, as he wordlessly handed him another bowl of Ramyeon.

Seungcheol gave him a thankful smile. He wasn’t expecting Jeonghan to save him some. If the son of Aphrodite was like this all the time, a statue of him would have been made to commemorate that an angel had officially landed in their camp. Unfortunately, the way he was poking at Seungcheol for his answer, was not angelic at all. 

“Thanks, now please stop poking me.” He grumbled dejectedly.

“C’mon, what’s making you look like you’ve been dipped in Kimchi sauce?” 

“Wha-” 

Jeonghan shoved a forkful of _very spicy_ kimchi into his mouth. “Chew and then talk.” 

Seungcheol glared at him as he chewed on the kimchi. His decision to see Jeonghan had been correct. He could feel all his fears slowly dissipating...because it had been replaced with the need to strangle a certain son of Aphrodite.

“Feeling better?” Jeonghan asked while slurping on his noodle. 

Seungcheol snorted his reply. 

“So? What is it?”

With a sigh, Seungcheol braced himself. He knew he couldn’t postpone the issue any longer. 

“Camp Half Blood didn't receive any warnings from the gods. There will be...no prophecy coming to us.” 

“And so?”

“So? So what should I say to the campers?! I don't want to tell them that the Gods had basically _abandoned_ us! What should I say so that the others won’t despair?”

Jeonghan didn’t answer, but his eyes were locked onto Seungcheol’s own grey eyes. A minute passed and whatever he found there must have pleased Jeonghan, as a devilish glint appeared in his eyes, followed by an evil grin. Those eyes then flitted past Seungcheol and scanned the entire camp, before stopping on one of their youngest campers. 

“Seungkwan ah~!” The tone used was melodious and sweet. 

The Son of Apollo looked up in surprise, his mouth also full of ramyeon. “Yes hyung?”

“Come here and sit by my side.” said Jeonghan with a bright smile. 

Seungcheol suddenly felt chills going down his back. Did he just ask a _devil_ for help? 

As if sharing his sentiment, Seungkwan approached the two of them, slowly and cautiously. 

“Okay...what is it hyung?”

Jeonghan flashed him another disarming smile. “Seungkwan-ah~ Remember the time when you sang a prophecy to us before?”

“Yes...that happened a few years back...Why?”

“I want you to sing a prophecy now.”

“Huh? You want me to- WHAT?”

.

“Sing a prophecy. You can do that right?”

Seungcheol was terrified when he saw Jeonghan's deathly sweet smile. Indeed, it was the smile belonging to The Devil. 

“I want you to sing a prophecy that a God slayer has come to kill the Gods and that Camp Bashin would be the one to defeat him. Let us pick a number while we are at it...hmmm… I like the number 17, so let’s get 17 people to go on some journey to hell or whatever you want. Do you get what I mean?”

Seungkwan gave Jeonghan an incredulous stare and honestly, Seungcheol can relate to that. 

“Hyung, are you being serious?!” hissed the junior, as he looked around them nervously. Thankfully, nobody was paying any attention to them.

“Jeonghan-hyung, I can’t just... _make_ a prophecy! That’ll be lying and...copyrighting Apollo’s name or something!”

The son of Aphrodite rolled his eyes. “Oh, I’m sure Uncle Apollo had _other things_ to worry about.”

“Okay, that's true. But I-I don’t know hyung…I don't think I can-”

Jeonghan cut off the reply as he grasped their younger brother’s nervous hands, and squeezed his shoulder.

“Seungkwan-ah...Please. I need- no, _WE_ need your help. I know it's not... _appropriate_ but we wouldn’t have asked you to do this if we have other options. Please trust us, we really need you to do this for us.”

That seemed to startle Seungkwan into silence. The younger man bit his lips, his eyes flitting from Jeonghan to Seungcheol, as he studied the two older campers. 

Finally, his shoulders slumped in defeat. 

“Fine. I’ll do it. Just this once, alright? I’m really...not supposed to do this hyung.”

“Of course, my dear Seungkwan ah~” Jeonghan smiled as he cheerfully patted Seungkwan’s shoulders. “I leave the words of the prophecy to you alright?”

“Ugh. I have so much work...Fine!”

“Oh, and it goes without saying but, don’t tell anyone about our little plan ok? Otherwise, I might accidentally let slip about your huge crush on that guy Ve-”

“Stop!!! I promise I won’t say anything!” Seungkwan quickly shut Jeonghan month with his hands. His face was bright red. Either from anger or embarrassment, Sungcheol didn’t know but he grinned when their junior muttered, “I hope you choke on your Kimchi!” before stomping away in a hurry.

Jeonghan smiled as he picked up his empty bowl to wash, motioning the other to follow him.

Seungcheol's feet moved automatically, trailing after his friend like a lost puppy before realization hit him. “Wait, How did you know about the Godslayer thing?”

Jeonghan smirked. “The others may be idiots but I’m not. It’s not like you were having a confidential meeting. I just stood behind a tree and “accidentally” heard parts of your conversation. After that, I more or less deduced the whole situation.”

Seungcheol clenched his hands nervously. “Hannie...won’t... _lying_ to the others be bad?” 

Jeonghan smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Cheol, we are not _lying_. We are just creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the Gods do not want to help us, then we should help ourselves. There’s nothing _bad_ with creating our own prophecy. You understand right?”

“Ri-Right…” Seungcheol nodded in agreement, ignoring the prickling feeling that was gnawing at his conscience. 

The two continued walking in silence, before it was broken by the sound of rapping.

_“Hear me, hear me, the Godslayer has come to kill and destroy.  
He will take away our brothers, our sisters and our godly parents .  
But be fearless for the Bashin 17 would defeat and destroy the Godslayer in Asia.  
Because we’re fearless Because we’re fearless…Eh Oh Eh Oh”_

There was a strange awkward silence in the air as all eyes were glued to Seungkwan.

“Uh...was that supposed to be a prophecy?” Someone in the camp asked. 

“I never knew the prophecies could come in as a rap!” Said the other.

Jeonghan rolled his eyes, before grabbing Seungcheol and mouthing to him to follow his lead. 

He clapped his hand and spoke in a melodious tone. “Oh my! It seems that _Uncle Apollo_ has been following the Kpop industry! How very... _trendy_ of him!” 

Seungcheol glanced at Jeonghan’s poker face. But he picked up his courage and tried to follow along, “Y-Yeah! That was a really wonderful rap - I mean prophecy...I mean- Oh that's right! We’ll have to choose the right campers to- to fulfill this...erm…”

“Prophecy!” Jeonghan completed his sentence, before nodding vigorously. “Yes, Seungcheol is absolutely correct! We _have_ to fulfill this prophecy.” He finished with a subtle but hard, nudge to Seungcheol’s rib.

“Ouch-...Of course! After all, this is our first prophecy we’ve ever received from... _you know_. So... we have to do a good job!” 

The whole camp nodded in agreement and cheered loudly. All of them were excited and eager, as this so-called prophecy had given them something that was missing a few hours ago. 

Hope.

But Seungcheol could not share his brothers’ and sister’ excitement nor their joy. Because the full weight of his decision had finally caught up to him. From the corner of his eyes, he could see a similar sense of dread creeping up on Jeonghan’s face. Seungcheol had no doubt that the same thought was running through Jeonghan’s mind.

_Did we just sentence our family to death?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, we're slowly moving up the plot.  
> Yes, the JeongCheol ship is slowly moving as well~  
> Though we won't focus a lot on ships, this fic still have them. Do check the Tags for Ships in this fic.  
> Once again, don't worry the rest of Seventeen will appear soon :D  
> Thanks for the comments & kudos~


	4. Ch 3 - Seventeen (Woozi)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another update.  
> As what the title says, the Seventeen will assemble. All members will appear in this chapter!  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Enjoy the story~

Woozi was present. Always quietly observing the situation from the shadows. 

When Annabeth and Groover arrived at their camp, he was nearby, so he could keep a wary eye on the two intruders.

When the campers fell into despair, he was there. Silently watching his brothers and sisters as sorrow and hopelessness overwhelmed the camp. He did not cry, because tears wouldn’t save them from their impending doom. 

And when Seungcheol and Annabeth were talking, he was present as well. Woozi was in the shadows, about to make his usual silent patrol around the camp, when he overheard their conversation. 

He found out that the Gods had abandoned the demigods. _All_ Demigods. Were they not even worth one prophecy? Had the gods left their children to die in vain? Then why should the children fight _for_ the Gods who had forsaken them? What rights do the Gods have, to insist that they fight for them? 

Woozi frowned in anger, causing the shadows around him swirled violently. 

But his brooding was cut short by a loud bellowing voice. “Yah! Woozi!!!”

The son of Hades gave a long-suffering sigh. He knew that voice. It belonged to the son of Poseidon, Hoshi. The fool was running towards him while balancing a bowl of Ramyeon in his hand. Plastered on his face was a smile that was so bright and so optimistic, that it almost burned Woozi’s eyeballs.

“What do you want.” He was quickly getting annoyed at the happy, chirpy, ball of sunshine, standing in front of him.

“Here you go!” And the bowl of Ramyeon was passed to him. “Better eat it while it's hot. After this….we’ll have to figure out what to do next.” 

Woozi raised a brow, “Don’t think we should do anything. Just let this Godslayer dude do his job.”

“Woah! Woah!” Hoshi looked around in alarm, as if afraid that the Gods were listening in on their exchange. When no divine punishment came, he whispered a little more calmly. “Why on earth are you so upset?” 

“I’m not upset.” Woozi replied flatly. 

“Yes you are.” 

“No I’m not.” 

Hoshi rolled his eyes before throwing his arms around Woozi’s neck and dragged him towards the dining area. “Stop hiding in the shadows. Look at you, you’re turning whiter day by day! You need some sunlight to look a little more _less dead_.” 

“Hoshi. My dad is _literally_ Hades.”

“So? My Dad is Poseidon, but do you see me soaking myself in seawater all the time?”

“Okay, fine. You win. I’ll sit out here in the _stupid_ sun and eat this _stupid_ ramyeon.” Woozi took an aggressive bite of the noodle to make his point when suddenly, a bowl of rice was shoved towards him. 

Hoshi was grinning, “Don’t forget your rice.” 

Okay, so maybe being friends with the son of Poseidon _wasn't_ that bad. Not that Woozi will ever admit it outloud. Instead, he accepted the rice with a grumpy “Thanks”. 

Hoshi’s teasing reply was cut off by the sound of metal chopsticks and bowls, clattering to the ground. Seungkwan, the son of Apollo had stood up quickly and dropped his empty bowl. 

Then, he started _rapping_. 

_“Hear me, hear me, the Godslayer has come to kill and destroy.  
He will take away our brothers, our sisters and our godly parents .  
But be fearless for the Bashin 17 would defeat and destroy the Godslayer in Asia.  
Because we’re fearless Because we’re fearless…Eh Oh Eh Oh”_

The rap ended, and not a single person breathed or moved. Everyone was looking around with a puzzled expression.

Finally, a younger camper broke the awkward silence. “Uh...was that supposed to be a prophecy?” 

“I never knew the prophecies could come in as a rap!” piped another one.

Seungkwan looked as if he wanted the ground to open up and swallowed him whole. His ears were tomato red and the boy quickly excused himself, presumably to get away from all the attention. 

Seungkwan’s spot was soon taken over by Seungcheol and Jeonghan, who had marched right to the middle of the room.

The son of Hades turned a curious eye to their Leader. Seongcheol was glancing continuously at Jeonghan, as if he was waiting for some cue. 

Sure enough, Jeonghan’s melodious voice filled the room. “Oh my! It seems that _Uncle Apollo_ has been following the Kpop industry! How very... _trendy_ of him!” 

“Y-Yeah! That was a really wonderful rap - I mean prophecy...I mean- Oh that's right! We’ll have to choose the right campers to- to fulfill this...erm…”

Holy Hephaestus. Woozi knew that Seungcheol was bad at lying but he wasn’t expecting it to be _this_ bad. 

“Prophecy!” Jeonghan smoothly covered Seungcheol’s incompetence, before nodding vigorously. “Yes, Seungcheol is absolutely correct! We _have_ to fulfill this prophecy.” 

Woozi noted the hard jab Jeonghan delivered to Seungcheol’s rib.

“Ouch-...Of course! After all, this is our first prophecy we’ve ever received from... _you know_. So... we have to do a good job!” 

When the whole camp started cheering, Woozi looked around in disbelief. Did they not see how suspicious their actions were? Or how obviously was Seungcheol lying? If Jeonghan was the only one making the announcement, the lies would be harder to detect. But the word ‘guilty’ was written all over Seungcheol's face when he was speaking. Did none of the campers see it?

Next to him, Hoshi was cheering so boisterously, raising the whole camp’s morale to a new high. If anyone has a shred of doubt in their hearts, it probably would have been blown away by Hoshi’s excited cheers. But not Woozi, because he knew what had really happened in Camp Half Blood.

Once everyone started to calm down, Hoshi grabbed his hand and wordlessly dragged him to a less crowded corner. 

“Yah, what are you doing?” Woozi demanded, but he didn’t have the heart to shrug off his friend. Hoshi’s hand was ice cold.

The son of Poseidon turned to him with a look of horror. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”

“...Why do you say that?”

“Didn’t you see Seungcheol-hyung's face??? It is so obvious that everything was a lie!”

Woozi raised an eyebrow. “Then why do you still support him?”

Hoshi gulped and looked down nervously. “The situation must’ve been real bad for him to have to lie to us...How can I not support it?” 

Woozi’s eyes widened in surprise, before giving his friend a small smile.“Then, we’ll just have to ensure that this prophecy is accurate, don’t we?”

The nervous expression on Hoshi’s face was finally gone. Instead, it was replaced by an unreadable look that Woozi couldn’t decipher. The son of Hades felt heat creeping up onto his face, as he fidgeted uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny. He looked away quickly.

“Oi. Don’t you know it’s rude to stare at someone for so long.”

Hoshi blinked once, before his signature grin slowly reappeared on his face.

“Yeah, you’re right. I trust you Woozi. Let's get out of this mess, victorious and alive.”

——--

Everyone started gathering in front of Mingyu’s personal kitchen instead of the official meeting room. Most likely because they knew that Mingyu would serve them snacks if they held their discussion there.

A nervous Seungcheol could be seen standing in the middle of the crowd. Their Leader took a deep breath and began. 

“As all of you have heard...the Godslayer is here to kill the Gods and us, Demigods. He has already killed our legend and our hero, Percy Jackson. We don't know when he'll reach our camp, but we won't allow him to take a single step in here. The 17 of us will go out and stop him before he can destroy this family that we had built with our sweat and blood.” 

Though his voice was loud and strong, Seungcheol’s eyes said otherwise. Those grey eyes screamed of terror and doubts and honestly, Seungcheol looked like a nervous wreck. Woozi could tell that Seungcheol was terrified for all of their lives, that he was leading them to their early graves. 

Woozi frowned in worry. Just how much _more_ responsibility was Seungcheol planning to bear alone? He made a mental note to have a talk with his idiotic leader later. 

But now, Woozi’s and the camp’s attention was seized by one, son of Athena. Wonwoo’s delicate frame seemed to sway along with the evening breeze, as he stood up from his seat.

“I would like to volunteer.”

“Are you crazy?!” Mingyu’s response was immediate. The son of Hephaestus was clearly distressed as smoke was sizzling out of his tanned skin. He grabbed Wonwoo’s thin wrist and tried to drag him away. 

Woozi stared at the scene in astonishment. Because, when did these two get together? And why was he not informed of this latest development? There was a betting pool in the camp, and Woozi was pretty sure that he had just won the bet for those two.

The two mentioned campers were still glaring at each other. Wonwoo then shrugged off Mingyu's hand and Woozi, along with probably half - if not all - of the campers, watched the drama unfolding in front of them with baited breath.

“There are 17 people going. That’s sufficient enough for me to come up with at least 50 different ways to defeat an army. I can help and I will go! I’ve already made up my mind.” 

Around them, many campers nodded in agreement and Woozi felt the same. If Wonwoo goes with the team, they will be able to move in a more efficient and effective way.

“Ugh. Then I’ll go too! I can repair all of your armor and weapons, and I can use fire to fight.”

Mingyu’s sudden declaration took everyone by surprise. Now, it was Wonwoo’s turn to grab Mingyu’s hands.

“Don’t be stupid Gyu. You stay here. You don’t belong in a battlefie- ” 

“I CAN COOK!!!” Mingyu shouted proudly, as if that skill was more important than his smithing and fighting abilities. “I can cook good food while we travel! Let me go as well!”

Seungcheol hid a smile behind his hand and nodded. “Alright. Both of you are in.” 

“What?! No hyung, you cannot let Mingyu-” Wonwoo’s plea was cut short because Mingyu had thrown the other boy over his shoulder.

“We’re going back to the cabin to prepare for the quest. Please excuse us.” Mingyu said glumly as he retreated to his cabin, with Wonwoo kicking and fussing over his shoulders.

The last thing Woozi heard was Wonwoo threatening to skin Mingyu alive with his dagger, or pelting him with his massive library of books or something similar. Then the door to the Hephaestus’ cabin was closed and the sound of a turning lock echoed around the silent camp. Looks like the rest of the Hephaestus’ siblings would have to bunk in with the Hermes’ kids tonight. 

Then someone else stood up and Woozi felt his stomach drop when he saw that it was Hoshi.

There were so many things Woozi wanted to say. It ranged from, _‘Is that guy crazy?’_ followed by, _‘Did that idiot think that he’s the next Percy or something?’_ to, _‘He couldn’t even control his powers well!’_ and finally, _‘He shouldn’t be going into the battlefield’_.

But Hoshi remained oblivious to Woozi’s inner turmoil and he continued to volunteer enthusiastically.

“I volunteer as well! I’m the son of Poseidon and as one of the Big 3, I definitely have to go.” 

Seungcheol gave his approval. “Thanks Hoshi. I am going too.” 

Suddenly, Woozi felt all eyes turned to him, pressuring and questioning his answer. Luckily, he had already decided beforehand. “Yeah, yeah, of course I am going too. Since _apparently_ , the outcome was predetermined from _birth_.” 

Woozi glared at Hoshi, who beamed back at him, completely missing the sarcasm in his reply. Just because they are the sons of the Big 3, does not mean that they should always be the ones fighting in the front line. There are so many other capable campers, like...like Minghao. 

Minghao, the lanky son of Ares is well-versed in the ways of war, martial arts and assassination. His family ran The Chinese Mafia for goodness’ sake. He fights better than all of them combined and look, he wasn’t carelessly volunteering his- 

“I would like to volunteer my services.” Minghao smiled, as if he hadn’t just completely proved Woozi wrong. “I think I would be useful in this battle.”

Seungcheol smiled brightly. “Yes, I’m sure you will. Thank you Minghao.”

“Hyung, Can I volunteer as well?” Jun, a beautiful boy with purple hair asked. “I know I am not as strong as the others… but I just know that I can do something to help.” 

Alright Minghao made sense, but Woozi got a little worried for Jun. As the son of Dionysus, he spent most of his time in the vineyard. Even during war games, if you throw him a cute plushie, he would get completely distracted by it. How was this innocent guy going to survive in the battlefield? If Seungcheol knews better, he would reject Jun’s enlistment. No point in getting him killed in this battle.

“...Okay, I understand. You’re in Jun.” 

Woozi whirled around at Seungcheol in disbelief. The son of Zeus must have either been crazy or desperate. What? Was Seungcheol going to allow DK to join next? Dokyeom or DK, is the son of Dementer and one of the sweetest and most harmless Demigods in their camp. He and Jun and him are the only ones caring for the vineyard, as DK’s powers allowed him to make plants grow. Which was a powerful ability but clearly, unsuitable in battle.

“If Jun is going, I want to go too!” DK raised his hands, his smile as radiant as the sun.

Why is everybody trying to prove Woozi wrong today? And surely Seungcheol will forbid DK from going.

This time round, Seungcheol did hesitate. “DK-yah...Don’t do this. You’re not a warrior.”

DK's sunny smile was replaced by a clouded tearful look. “Why hyung? If Jun’s allowed to go, then why can’t I go? I can gather information by talking to the trees and the nature spirits. Am I that...unnecessary? Is it because I am too weak? I-I’m sorry for-”

“NO! No, it’s not like that! DK I’m just worried- Oh no, don’t look at me like that…”

“You’re so mean Seungcheol-hyung! DK just wants to protect our family, like I do!” Dino, the son of Hermes and the youngest in the camp, jumped up to intervene. “I volunteer too. I think fast on my feet and my navigation skills are the best in the camp!”

Woozi had to scoff at that. DK might volunteer because he honestly wanted to protect their home, but the same could _not_ be said with Dino. Their camp’s Maknae is very ambitious. The boy probably wanted a chance to prove himself, to be a ‘Hero’ among the Demigods, like what Percy Jackson had been. 

Faced by an innocent plea and a devious one, Seungcheol groaned in agony. He cast a helpless look towards Jeonghan, who quickly stepped forward. 

“Well, since the kids want to protect this family...I don’t see any reason to reject them...”

DK and Dino jumped up in joy.

“...but remember to listen to your Hyungs. Don’t do anything dangerous! And don’t show any kindness towards any monsters.” Jeonghan reminded them, voice filled with genuine concern and care.

The two boys agreed to those terms, but that did nothing to ease the worry lines on Jeonghan’s face. The son of Aphrodite paced around DK and Dino for a silent minute before saying, 

“You know what. Seungcheol ah~ Sign me up as well. I can’t let these two go off by themselves.” 

Jeonghan’s twin brother, Joshua stood up quickly. Disbelief and concern were clearly written on his beautiful face. “Jeonghan, you can’t! How could you?”

Jeonghan arched one elegant eyebrow. “I don’t see any reason why I couldn't.”

The twin marched up to his brother and shook him hard, as if hoping that he could shake Jeonghan’s foolishness out of his body.

“Don’t do this Hannie. You can’t. The world out there is terrifying and dangerous. Don’t you _remember_ ?”

From his front seat, Woozi could clearly see how Jeonghan's eyes darkened. 

“I remember. And that's precisely why I _have_ to go.”

Joshua flinched back as if Jeonghan had somehow burned him. The younger twin looked away from his brother and Woozi noted the flash of hurt and fear in his eyes. When Joshua finally faced Jeonghan again, his eyes were a mirror of Jeonghan’s. Equally dark and cold.

“Alright then. So you won’t object if I come along as well, right?”

“Shua, wh-”

They didn’t hear what Jeonghan had to say because Woozi snapped. 

The son of Hades couldn’t take the drama anymore. The day was getting late, and this shit is getting repetitive, so Woozi decided to finish up the selection, in the simplest and most logical method. 

“Okay people, just STOP! We’re gonna do it like this: whoever wants to go, just stand on this side. And those that want to stay in the camp, stand at the other side. Now _move_ it.”

It was a rare moment where Woozi took the lead, and everyone had heard the horror stories about the campers who had crossed the son of Hades. So, they obeyed him without questions.

The process went a lot faster after that. In the end, 4 more girls from Jeonghan’s fan club decided to come along. They are Na Ri and Minnie, daughters of Ares, Qi Tong daughter of Apollo and Yuna daughter of Hermes.

“We are still short of 2 people…” Seungcheol muttered as he glanced at Jeonghan to mouth, _Did we choose a number that’s too big to fulfill?_

Woozi rolled his eyes. Could they be even more obvious than this.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang across the camp.

“If you don’t mind, would you give me the pleasure to join you in this battle?”

A handsome boy with a bow on his back walked out from the forest. The cloak that bore the mark of Artemis, fluttered around him, giving the boy an added look of mystery. 

All of the campers had heard about him; the only-male Hunter among Artemis’ Huntress group. Rumors about his origin were widely discussed among the campers. The most popular gossip so far was that he was a descendant of Orion and in order to protect him, Lady Artemis had adopted him into her pack. 

“VERNON!” Seungkwan exclaimed once the boy was closer.

Oh that’s right. Seungkwan had accidentally met the Hunter when he was out on a quest before. The son of Apollo hadn’t been able to shut up about this Vernon-boy for quite some time. Woozi could practically see how Seungkwan was vibrating with excitement.

”Vernon you’re here! And… you said you’re going?”

The Hunter nodded.

Seungkwan’s eyes twinkle mischievously. “You know since I’m the best healer here, I think I should also join this quest. For...for a higher chance of survivability.” 

None of the senior campers were fooled. But the sun was setting, they didn’t have time to grief properly _and_ they had a Quest to prepare for. Everyone was tired, so Seungcheol accepted both Seungkwan’s and Vernon’s enlistment without any further questions.

Woozi sighed in relief when Seungcheol dismissed them. He sat near the campfire and glanced at those who had volunteered to go for the Quest. They were a very diverse group, but each member had their own strength and specialties that balances the group. 

_Ah_. Woozi thought. _Maybe we might just survive this_.

Then Seungcheol opened his big fat mouth. 

“Uh, can someone let Wonwoo and Mingyu know about the Quest details?” 

Everyone stared at the tightly shut Hephaestus’ cabin. 

Soon, the peace that Woozi was enjoying was broken by the campers, who were nominating one another to do the cumbersome task. They kept arguing and pushing this matter to each other...until all of them turned to look at Woozi. 

“I’m sure Woozi can do it.” Jeonghan smiled like the snake he is. 

Joshua reflected the same smile. “Yes, Woozi is the best! He can do everything!” 

And before he could protest, the whole group dispersed, leaving only him and a tired-looking Seungcheol. 

“Well...Thanks Woozi. I’ll leave it to you.” Seungcheoi said with a sheepish smile, before retreating quickly into his cabin, leaving him alone in front of Hephaestus’ cabin. 

_Ah_. Woozi thought. _Maybe we’re going to die after all_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's all the SVT members & their Godly parents. Yes Jeonghan & Joshua r twins in this fic.  
> That makes the 13 SVT members hv a parent from each of the 12 Greek Olympians.  
> What do u think??? Any comments, objections or suggestions about their Godly parents or their powers???  
> Do comment if u hv any thoughts abt it^^  
> Thanks for reading & for the Kudos~


	5. Ch 4 - So Where Are We Going?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's this week chapter~  
> This chapter is a bit short but don't worry, the next few chapters will be longer.  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Enjoy the story~

The morning sun had never felt so menacing and ominous to him. 

Yet this morning, it was.

Seungcheol woke up with the knowledge that he had fabricated a prophecy...and now the lives of sixteen people lay heavy on his shoulders. Even if it was _Jeonghan's_ idea to create the prophecy, at least half of the blame was still on Seungcheol. Despite his protesting conscience, he knew that this was the only way for the camp to survive. No, it _has_ to be. This was what he had chosen, and Seungcheol prayed that he would be able to pay the price for choosing this path.

What a _great_ thought to start the day.

“Morning Hyung.” Jun greeted him with a sleepy smile, snapping Seungcheol out of his dark reverie. “Mingyu has prepared breakfast for all of us.” 

“Ah really? Thanks for the information Junnie.” Sungcheol replied warmly. “Can you tell Mingyu I’ll be there shortly?” 

Seungcheol watched fondly as the boy nodded and rushed to get his own breakfast. As a son of Dionysius, Jun had such a calming and gentle personality. Will Jun make it out of their quest alive, with this kind of personality?

The darkness came back to plague him and Seungcheol looked up to the sky in desperation.

“Zeus...Father...Are we doing the right thing? If we are on the right path, please give me a sign…” 

A minute passed in silence.

Nothing happened.

Except for Seungcheol’s last ray of hope to dissolve into the darkness.

Of course, his father won’t contact him. Was he expecting Zeus to send a lightning bolt or something? Why was he even expecting anything at all?

Yesterday night Seungcheol had also prayed to Iris, goddess of Rainbow and the messager for the Gods. He even threw not one, but _three_ golden drachmas, hoping that the Goddess would appreciate the tip and actually connect his 'call' to Zeus. But still, there was no reply. And Seungcheol tried _everything_. He prayed to every single God he could think of, he tried to contact lesser wind Gods, he even begged for a prophetic dream, but all he got was radio silence. It was as if _all_ the gods were...dead or something. 

Which was ridiculous, since all the demigods in the camp were still able to use their powers. So, that cannot be the case. Which means that the Gods were ignoring them. On purpose.

Seungcheol rubbed his face in frustration. Those bossy Gods usually love to give Demigods their _‘holier-than-thou’_ opinions, but when Demigods _really_ need advice, they just up and disappear. It was really annoying. Not to mention scary. Because there were no directions from anyone. No Gods to lead the way. No Gods to blame if things go awry. One wrong move and their ‘quest’ could annihilate the entire camp. And it would all be Seungcheol’s fault.

The son of Zeus took a deep, shaky breath to calm himself. He mustn't look weak in front of the others. Once the cold sweat in his hands were gone, he continued his journey.

As he drew closer to Hephaestus Cabin, Wonwoo's exasperated voice rang clear even from a distance. 

“We have to go to Camp Half Blood! We may be able to find some important clues about our enemy and maybe learn about their behaviours and weaknesses.” 

“But it’s too _obvious_ to go to Camp Half Blood. If they waited for us, then it’ll be a battle on _their_ home ground. Instant death for us!” Woozi shot back, voice cold and sharp like ice.

“The odds that it’s a trap is highly likely. We shouldn’t go there. Instead, let's lure them to a more familiar ground, so we can control the hunt better.” suggested Vernon, who was standing like a wallflower near the window.

“But if we stay in Asia, wouldn’t the battle be too close to home? Besides what should we do during this period? Wait for ‘Him’ to come and slaughter us?” Minghao replied with a scoff as he glared across the room. “We should go to Camp Half Blood. If the Godslayer wants a fight, then we’ll give him one. If he’s not there, then we can find clues about the enemy, like what Wonwoo said.” The son of Ares finished, casually folding his arms and tilting his face up, as if daring anyone to disagree with him.

None wants to argue with Ares’ kids. Not even Woozi. So of course, Mingyu did. To this day, Seungcheol didn’t know if the boy was brave or just plain suicidal. 

“A fight? Do you think everyone here is ready for a fight?!” growled the son of Hephaestus as he tilted his head towards the non-combatants in the room. DK, Jun and Seungkwan looked partly apologetic and partly ashamed when all eyes were on them. “Do they look ready for a fight? Are you able to take responsibility for their lives?!”

Minghao’s eyes shone dangerously and he easily returned Mingyu’s glare with equal ferocity. “The moment they volunteer for the quest, they are responsible for their own lives.”

“You-”

“Stop it, Kim Mingyu. What Minghao said is correct. Why are you acting so adamant about this? Are you seriously going against me?” Wonwoo intervened, leveling his boyfriend with his _stop-being-stupid_ glare.

Mingyu returned it with his own _you’re-the-stupid-one_ glare. “I’m not against you! I am trying to make the best decision that will keep all of us alive, especially _you_.”

Seungcheol started chanting a prayer that he knew would never reach the gods. “Please don’t let it become a lovers’ spat, please don’t let it become a lover's spat. Please-”

Maybe the Gods finally took pity on him because his prayer was answered. Sort of. 

Hoshi jumped in and tried to pacify the situation. “How about we split into two groups? One will go to Camp Half Blood and the other group will stay and protect our camp. Like this everyone would be satisfied right?”

Wonwoo’s face looked far from satisfied. Instead, he looked as if he was seconds away from stabbing the son of Poseidon. “Are you daft?! How can we split up the group right now? We don’t know anything about our enemies. Reducing our forces now is as good as suicide!” 

“I was just-!”

“Enough!” Woozi yelled as the shadows around him plunged the entire room into pitch black.

Once the room was quiet and the darkness receded, the son of Hades turned towards Seungcheol.

“What do you think?” 

Dark black eyes bore into him, making Seungcheol more nervous than usual. He knew how important this decision was. Both sides had presented good arguments but...as Sun Tze says, _Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster_. And Seungcheol would very much like to avoid any ‘disaster’. So what they need now, is to know more about their enemies.

Seungcheol cleared his throat nervously before presenting his answer. 

“I think we should go to Camp Half Blood. We need more information.” 

Woozi clicked his tongue but nod to acknowledge his decision. Then he turned sharply to their youngest. “What about you?”

Dino flinched as he looked around to find a way out. When he saw none, he replied cautiously, “I support Woozi-hyung…”

On the other side of the room, Wonwoo smiled coldly. “Dino, you should think about your answer carefully...” 

“Ah...err...I uh. I agree with Wonwoo-hyung.”

Hoshi coughed loudly and frowned at Dino’s answer. 

Dino grimaced. He opened and closed his mouth in succession, doing a perfect imitation of a goldfish, as his brain logged out under such intense peer pressure.

“Stop it you bullies. All of you are just scaring my aegi.” Jeonghan declared, as he wrapped his hands around Dino's shoulders. He glanced lazily at the room. “Frankly speaking, all of you make perfect sense but I do believe that our best chance for survival is to get more info on our enemies. So I’m voting to go to Camp Half Blood.” 

Jeonghan gave their maknae a gentle squeeze, “What do you think Dino?”

Dino turned pale, as if the person behind him was not an angel but a devil. His survival instincts kicked in and he nodded. “Yes. I’ll just follow Jeonghan-hyung.”

To make everything simpler and to prevent another argument from breaking out, Seungcheol took a page out of Woozi’s book and set the voting like what they had done last night. The decision will be made based on the majority vote.

Mingyu Woozi and Vernon immediately moved to one side, with Seungkwan trailing after them. 

“Who else agrees to stay in Asia?” Seungcheol asked to be fair. 

Slowly, Joshua walked over to the other side.

“Shua!” His twin called out in surprise. 

“Sorry Jeonghan. I think we should stay in Asia so we can better protect our home and fight in our territory. I still...feel strongly about letting you fight in the frontline, even more so if it's on a foreign territory. Sorry.”

“Alright then. Who wants to head to Camp Half Blood?” Seungcheol asked next. 

Wonwoo and Minghao immediately stood together on one side. Jun took one look at Wonwoo and followed him. Jeonghan then moved to join, with Dino in his arms. The four girls immediately followed Jeonghan.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes. Beauty truly has a persuasive power all on its own...Getting Jeonghan’s vote was as good as getting almost half of the group’s vote. Jeonghan’s beauty was conveniently terrifying. 

Hoshi thought long and hard before grumpily moving towards Wonwoo. 

“I’m just thinking that we should follow our leader. It's not because I agree with what you said. I only agree with Seungcheol’s opinion and that’s why I’m _here_.” Hoshi said, as he spewed out a full explanation that nobody asked for. 

Hoshi’s competitive streak always intensified around Wonwoo. From camp classes, to capture the flag games, even to bathroom cleaning duties...those two always competed with one another, yet the poor son of Poseidon rarely won against the son of Athena. Thus, it was rare to see him agree with anything Wonwoo said.

DK studied the two groups, before shrugging and joined Wonwoo’s group. He gave them a sheepish smile. “I don’t really mind any side. I was planning to just follow the majority.” 

With that confession, everything was decided. Woozi, Mingyu, Joshua, Vernon, and Seungkwan were out voted, 5 to 12. 

“So does this mean...?” Dino asked eagerly.

“Yep. Guys, we’re going to Camp Half blood!” Seungcheol declared to the group.

Everyone cheered. Even the campers who voted against going to Camp Half Blood looked rather excited. They were going to _The_ Legendary Demigod Camp after all, even if it was in ruins, visiting that place would be an honor.

Despite the excitement, Seungcheol caught flashes of anxiety among the senior campers. So, some of them were aware of their little... _transportation_ problem. But Seungcheol chose to keep quiet for now. No need to scare the younger ones right before their departure.

“We’ll leave in 10 minutes. Everyone, prepare yourself!” 

_And pray that we won’t get blown out of the sky_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, we're going to Camp Half-Blood! Which is a long journey...they gotta travel from Korea to USA after all.  
> And yeah its Seungcheol's POV again. We use a lot of his POV in the beginning cause he took part in most of the planning & thus bore most of the responsibilities for kick starting this 'quest'. But as story goes on, we'll hv more of other members' POV~  
> Also Hoshi & Wonwoo rivalry is exactly like Poseidon VS Athena rivalry XD  
> Thanks for your comments & kudos^^ We appreciate it!


	6. Ch 5 - Highway of Harpies pt.1 (Vernon)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another chapter~  
> They r setting off to CHB now! But of course, their journey is not smooth-sailing...  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Happy reading~

Vernon missed hunting together with Artemis.

The goddess first found him when he was waiting for his death, deep inside a forest. Vernon’s biological parents had abandoned him when he was five. He was already starving when he followed his parents into the forest and when they left him all alone, Vernon knew that he was not going to survive.

That was when she came. When Artemis saw him, she had such a forlorn smile. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking, but Vernon didn’t know why the smile was directed at him. That was the first time he had ever met the Goddess.

Artemis then offered him knowledge, and Vernon took it gratefully. She taught him how to make bows, arrows, daggers and other weapons. She taught him how to shoot. She taught him what to eat and what to avoid. She taught him how to survive on his own in that godforsaken forest. 

Then one day, she disappeared and he was left alone again. But he didn’t have time to feel sad, for the forest is merciless to those who are weak. So Vernon fought hard for his survival and soon became the fiercest predator in the forest. 

Years passed and Vernon thought that he would never see his saviour again, until his prey bore another arrow that did not belong to him. As Vernon studied the second arrow, the Goddess appeared, with a hunting bow on her hand and a group of girls behind her. The Goddess’ set of arrows matched perfectly with the unknown arrow on Vernon’s prey. 

Her eyes widened when she saw him. 

“Orion...” She whispered. 

He raised his eyebrow at her. “I told you before. My name is Vernon, not Orion.” 

Her lips twitched up in amusement. “I know. You just reminded me of a close friend of mine, who had long moved to the stars.”

How can anyone move to the stars? Vernon had no idea, but he nodded all the same. 

“Ah... Okay.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes. The Goddess studied the young human, while the said human studied the prey, thinking how to divide the deer meat into two equal parts.

Finally, Artemis gave a long exhale.

“I have thought about this for a long time...I don’t wish to have another regret...I…Would you like to follow me?” She asked.

The group of girls behind her started whispering among themselves in shock. Their reaction told Vernon that such an offer was unusual. But he didn’t want to lose her company. He didn’t want to be alone anymore, so he nodded his head.

Artemis looked troubled, yet happy. “Orion... This time I will protect you.” 

And then she blessed him. 

A lot of things changed after that.

Vernon found that his senses were sharper, his reflexes were faster and his marksmanship improved to new heights. He also found out that he was the only male, within the Huntress of Artemis group, causing some of the girls to be uncomfortable around him. 

Hence, Vernon remained polite and friendly but he always kept a distance away from the girls. It wasn’t his intention to make them uncomfortable. He just didn’t want to be alone again. And he did enjoy hunting together with Lady Artemis. It wasn’t much but he was happy. 

Then the Godslayer came.

Lady Artemis had to leave, but she couldn’t bring him and wouldn’t tell him her destination. She also forbade him to join the fight with their Huntress group. Instead, Artemis told him to leave for Camp Bashin and lay low until the Godslayer had been defeated. Vernon argued against it but Artemis had knocked him out, effectively rendering all his arguments useless.

His only companion left him again.

Vernon felt alone and hopeless...until he arrived in Camp Banshin. He saw that they were recruiting people to fight against Godslayer. If the Godslayer is defeated, wouldn’t everything be back to how it was before? Wouldn’t his companion return to his side? Vernon pondered over this issue for some time, until he heard that there were only two spots left. 

A sense of defiance welled up from deep inside. He didn’t want to lay low and hide like a coward. He would be defying Lady Artemis, but he hoped that she would understand. Vernon had been raised as a hunter and he was proud of it. He would hunt down the godslayer. Or die trying. With that resolve, Vernon went and volunteered himself.

Now looking at all the demigods he was supposed to travel with, Vernon wondered how many of them would be alive by the end of this battle. Some of them look tough, but some of them look really _weak_. 

Seungcheol, the leader of the camp, looked like an anxious deer most of the time. Jun and DK looked too _nice_ and did not seem to have any proper combat experience. Dino looked too ambitious...which was never a good thing when it came to hunting, as one needed to be able to determine if the opponents were your prey or your predator. 

Speaking of which, Vernon had a hard time gauging Jeonghan, who seemed to be the vice-leader of the camp. The look on Jeonghan's face sometimes intimidated him, as he looked as if he could see through Vernon’s soul. But currently, the two Aphrodite twins looked far from intimidating as Jeonghan and Joshua dressed like they were going to a fashion show instead of a battle. Handing them two Gucci scarves was Mingyu, who looked and probably _is_ a worried boyfriend, judging by the constant glances the boy kept giving to Wonwoo. And speaking of glances, who was this Seungkwan that kept glancing at him with stars in his eyes? The staring was getting harder to ignore. 

The Hunter surveyed the camp again. If he were to pick someone to fight together with, it would either be Woozi, son of Hades, Minghao, son of Ares, or Wonwoo, son of Athena. It would be good to follow their instructions, as they looked determined and experienced in battles. Those 3 seemed to have the highest chance of survival. 

Vernon nodded to himself, satisfied with his findings. He sat down underneath a tree overlooking the camp, as he waited for the others to say their goodbyes. 

He saw Seuncheol having an intense conversation with Wonwoo, Groover and Annabeth. He saw Jeonghan and Joshua, being surrounded by crying boys and girls, desperately giving them sugary treats. He saw the cabin mates of Jun stuffing snacks, comics and a bottle of... _something_ , down his bag. He saw Dino waving enthusiastically. He saw Seungkwan staring at him. 

.

Vernon jolted out of his peaceful observation. “Yes?”

“Erm hi...I’m just wondering...if you remember me?” Seungkwan asked shyly.

“...What?” He had no recollection of the boy in front of him. 

“You saved me a year ago...from a harpy!” Seungkwan said, his eyes willing him to remember.

“Oh…” Vernon replied as he recalled one particular incident. “Are you the boy who ran away from that harpy, while screaming ‘Oh My God!’ repeatedly in English, at Seoul station...?”

Seungkwan's face immediately turns bright red. “You only remember that?”

“Yes.” 

He didn’t think it was possible, but Seungkwan's face turned even redder before he ran off with a, “Oh my gosh, please forget about that incident!!!”

Vernon chuckled at the other boy. He was a funny one. 

Soon after, Seuncheol called for everyone. “Okay guys, gather around. We’ve got everything ready, so let’s go!”

None said anything when Annabeth joined their departure group with her own backpack. 

Vernon felt a pang of pity for Annabeth. The last time he saw her, she looked healthy, radiant and strong. Now, she looked like a shadow of her former self. Her face was sunken in and her eyes were perpetually puffed up from crying. She looked nowhere fit to join the quest, but since this involved her camp and family, Vernon had no right to stop her. 

Suddenly, a tour bus barrelled into the camp. The yellow bus smashed through the fountain, missed Mingyu’s kitchen by a hair's breadth, before swerving right into the vineyard, to DK and Jun’s horror. The two demigods rushed to the damaged vineyard, just as Grover hopped out of the bus.

The satyr gave them a sheepish smile, “Hey! I got us the transportation.”

Seungcheol was stunned at the carnage in front of him, “Thanks…? Uh, how exactly did you get the bus?”

Grover scratched his head, “I may or may not, _borrowed_ it from a nearby tour agency.”

“Oh Styx...I’m going down to Tatarus after all of this…” lamented their leader. 

Woozi gave Seungcheol a shit-eating grin and a pat in the back. Meanwhile, Jeonghan began doing a roll call and herded the group into the bus. 

Vernon raised his eyebrow. This looked more like a school excursion, than a group of Demigods going off to war. But this rattag group was his last resort. So he shrugged and followed them.

As Grover moved towards the driver’s seat, Seuncheol’s hand shot out to stop him.

“Grover! Why don’t you take a rest? I’ll get someone else to drive.” He smiled at the satyr before turning around to Wonwoo, expression morphing into sheer desperation. “Wonwoo! Wanna take the first drive? _Please_?” 

The son of Athena hid a smile and smoothly moved to take over the driver’s seat before anyone else could object. 

Vernon silently thanked Seungcheol for changing the driver as he sat at the front, next to Grover. 

The bus exited the camp and entered the highway safely. Inside, the Demigods were full of songs and laughter. Hoshi, Seungkwan and Dino were hyping up the atmosphere, while DK and Jun were mourning over the destroyed vineyard.

“They are such a happy bunch…” Grover commented with a chuckle. “Even when they may be driving to their doom.” 

“Yeah...I do not know if they are naive or brave.” Vernon said, equally amused.

“Percy would’ve liked them…” Grover whispered sadly. 

Vernon was about to offer his sympathy when Wonwoo’s loud shout startled everyone. 

“INCOMING!” 

And the bus swerved sharply to the right, flinging everyone to one side. 

Outside the window, creatures with feathers, black eyes and sharp teeth were staring at them. The Demigods stared back in shock, at the frankenstein mixture between a human female head and a giant bird body. The monsters screeched loudly and flew to the left side of the bus, where they started slamming their bodies onto the windows, rocking the bus violently. 

“OH MY GOD!!! HARPIES!!!” Seungkwan screamed. “Wonwoo! Do something about it!!!” 

“I’m a bit _busy_ , trying to evade the Harpies AND avoid the incoming traffic! Go ask someone else!” Wonwoo shouted back as he swerved to avoid another truck. 

On the highway, cars, trucks, buses and lorries were zooming past them, completely oblivious to the numerous harpies flying around the bus.

Then clawing sounds started on top of the bus.

“Calm down guys!” Grover quickly stood up before Seungkwan screamed again. “It's ok, I fought against numerous Harpies before, and I survived. I'll guide you through it alright?!”

Several campers looked at Grover in relief as they calmed down. 

The satyr gave them an encouraging smile. “Harpies’ have human heads but they’re basically giant birds. Their feathers are kind of tough, so their weak point is where the-”

The bus swerved sharply to the left and Grover, who was standing defenselessly, in the middle of the bus, was flung harder than anyone else. The satyr’s head hit the overhead luggage compartment and Grover was out cold.

Seungkwan’s anguished wails filled the bus. “NOOOO- The Weak point is WHERE?! Don’t leave us like this, Grover!!!” 

“Um, he’s not actually dead y’know.” Vernon offered to the genuinely distressed boy

“I know! But what are we gonna _do_?! There’s an entire flock of Harpies out there!”

Vernon glanced around the bus before turning to Wonwoo.

“Wonwoo-shi, try to keep the bus steady. I’m going up to fight. Open the door please.” 

Their busy driver nodded and opened the bus door.

Vernon jumped out and grabbed the top of the bus, before hauling himself onto the roof. He calculated around 40 harpies surrounding them. Flying behind their bus, was 1 large Harpy, who seemed to be more intelligent and more sinister than the others. So that was the boss. It was smart enough to fly outside of Vernon’s shooting range.

So, Vernon started by shooting the closest harpy to him. The monster fell onto the road with a loud screech. It was about to get up again, only to be crushed to dust by a passing truck. The cutoff screeched seemed to bring all of the harpies' attention onto Vernon. Their dark eyes glinted with excitement and their mouths widened into a sadistic smile. 

With a loud screech, all the harpies merged into a black cloud and flew towards him as one. 

Vernon attempted to dodge when a warning cry stopped him.

“Don’t move!”

Then a _rocket_ flew past him, straight into the black harpy cloud. It didn’t kill the harpies but it did disperse them.

Vernon turned around to find Minghao, standing on the roof with a rocket launcher in his hands. 

“Heh, I knew this would come in handy.” the child of Ares said with a boyish grin. Minghao then dropped his rocket launcher into an open window, ignored the resounding shout of pain from inside the bus, and took a fighting stance with his sword on hand. 

Somehow, Minghao managed to look threatening and _fashionable_. His branded tracksuit was partially covered by an expensive-looking maroon armor, while the edges of his sword were lettered in greek blessings, deeply engraved in that same matching, maroon color. For a split second, Vernon felt as if he had been transported into one of those Hollywood action movies, with Minghao as the main actor.

Then the bus tilted sharply to the left and Vernon was forced to hold on for dear life. Minghao simply stabbed his sword onto the bus, using it to stabilize himself. 

“What the- Minghao! Are you trying to stab my head from up there?!” came Mingyu’s loud complaint.

"Not my fault that you’re so goddamn _tall_!" Minghao hollered back, completely unapologetic.

“I _forged_ that sword, you ungrateful, battle-maniac! Use it to kill those birds, not me! We’ll provide whatever support we can from the windows, so go!”

“Heh, let's do this then.” A sadistic grin stretched across Minghao’s face, matching the harpies’ own grin. 

Minghao flung himself off the roof and landed on one of the harpies that was flying nearby. He stabbed his hidden knife onto the harpy’s shoulder and used it to steer the monster. With the steering knife on one hand and his sword on the other, the son of Ares unleashed chaos among their flying foes.The screeching sound from the harpies got shriller and shriller as he continued slashing one harpy after another. Unfortunately, their feathers were indeed thick and coupled with their fast maneuver, it was difficult for Minghao to deliver a killing blow. 

Noting the predicament, Vernon followed Minghao’s lead and stabbed his dagger onto the roof to steady his footing. Then he aimed at the wings joints and shot the 2 harpies surrounding Minghao. As expected, the son of Ares didn’t waste the opportunity given to him. Minghao flew under the distracted harpies and sliced off its heads, turning them instantly into ashes.

As if unhappy by the turn of events, the bigger harpy suddenly broke off from the others and flew towards the right windows of the bus. Vernon tried to shoot at the creature but all of his arrows were repelled. 

With a great sweep of its wings, Vernon was knocked off from his perch and rolled towards the edge of the bus, where his feet dangled dangerously over the highway. The blast of wind also broke the bus’ windows. With no barrier between them, the giant harpy extended its claws into the bus. 

Panicked screamings began immediately, but the giant harpy ignored it and continued its attack. Sharp glass rained on the bus’ occupants as the giant harpy was hellbent on destroying the left side of their tour bus. Vernon hoped none inside was injured.

With great difficulty, Vernon crawled himself back onto the roof. As he struggled to keep his footing and distract the smaller harpies, the giant harpy suddenly perched onto their bus and forced its head into the gaping window. 

The hunter scrambled to change his aim, but he stopped when a high-pitched shout rang clear above the din. 

"Yah! You pile of bird fluff, _**DO NOT ENTER this bus**_!“

The harpy suddenly recoiled back in...fear? Vernon didn’t know what or _who_ caused such an intense reaction to the monster, but it worked. The giant harpy stopped trying to get inside the bus.

Vernon nocked an arrow, ready to help those inside the bus, when a pained curse _outside_ the bus seized his attention. 

On his right, one of the harpies finally managed to knock Minghao off his impromptu ride. Luckily, the boy crashed onto the roof of a passing lorry, and not onto the highway. But the son of Ares was clearly wounded, as he struggled to stand up. 

Vernon made a quick decision. 

He jumped off the bus and headed towards Minghao. Rule number three from the hunters’ group: Never leave an injured hunter alone during a hunt, because they might _not return alive_. He had to help Minghao. They were all a team now and Vernon did want to make friends with all these weird people from camp Banshin. 

Besides...it was a bus _full of Demigods_ VS 1 giant harpy. 

They should be able to handle it...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So their first battle!...kinda? To be continued in the next ch...  
> Writing battle scenes...r difficult. But we'll do our best!  
> Comments & Kudos r much appreciated~^^


	7. Ch 6 - Highway of Harpies pt.2 (Jeonghan)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the continuation to their Harpies fight~  
> Have I mentioned how hard it is to write battle scenes...? I did? Oh okay then...  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Happy reading~

Madness.

That was the best word to describe the situation, right after Jeonghan saw Minghao jumped to the bus’ rooftop to help Vernon. 

First off, Dino. The son of Hermes, the maknae and his aegi wanted to follow Minghao and Vernon to go fight on the rooftop. No way in tartarus would Jeonghan allow this idiot _baby_ of his, to jump out and die a stupid death just so he could play ‘hero’. Therefore, he focused all of his Aphrodite muscle strength - which was not much - to stop Dino. Joshua, bless his twin for his freaky twins’ mind-reading thingy, immediately moved to help. Strong as Dino was, the son of Hermes was nothing in the face of 2 aphrodite kids sitting on his lap and legs. 

With Dino protesting, but safe and sound underneath him, Jeonghan looked around for Seungcheol. He hoped that their leader could do something before someone else decided to be an idiot and die a meaningless death. 

Which led him to the second problem.

Instead of the powerful son of Zeus or a calm leader, what Jeonghan saw was a terrified Demigod who sat frozenly amid all of the chaos, as if the weight of the entire world had made him unable to move. His pale face and shifting eyes was all Jeonghan needed to see that Seungcheol was in no shape or form to do anything. Still, he had to try.

“Choi Seungcheol!”

It was no use. He didn’t hear Jeonghan. Seungcheol was fully in the middle of a breakdown. Sure, none of them had ever faced an entire flock of harpies in their short Demigod lives, but none of the harpies had ever fought all 17 demigods at once as well. Well...at least Jeonghan didn't think they did. Demigod History wasn’t his strongest subject.

Luckily for him, Seungcheol was easier to handle than History classes.

“Shua.” Jeonghan said calmly. “Deal with Seungcheol.”

At his twin’s questioning look, Jeonghan gave a little smirk. “He needs to learn to relax a little.”

Understanding dawned upon Joshua’s bright eyes. His brother stood up from his perch on Dino’s legs and moved to the leader’s seat. The son of Aphrodite then covered Seungcheol’s ears and looked straight into his eyes. 

“Choi Seungcheol, _relax_. Everyone’s fine. We need you to _calm down_ and _help_.” 

Joshua’s eyes glowed light pink when he spoke, and a calming aura spread within the bus.

Seungcheol blinked, as if he was slowly waking up from a long dream. The son of Zeus took a deep breath before lowering Joshua’s hands from his ears. 

“Sorry...so sorry. I’m f-fine now. Thanks Shua. And Hannie too” 

The aphrodite twins flashed their winning smiles. 

“No worries.”

“We got your back Cheol.” 

Seungcheol smiled at his best friends.

Their moment was short-lived however, as the giant harpy decided to crash into their party. 

_Literally_.

The bus’ windows shattered to pieces, and a giant claw filled Jeonghan’s vision. He felt his body react instantly. The son of Aphrodite shielded Dino with his body, and bent their upper bodies as low as he could, towards the floor. 

Thankfully, the claw missed Dino by a few centimetres.

Unfortunately, it didn’t completely miss Jeonghan.

Pain blossomed as one of the harpy’s sharp talons connected with his arm. The talon dragged into his skin, creating a deep gash that extended from the beginning of Jeonghan’s shoulders all the way to his wrist. His left sleeve was soaked in blood.

“Jeonghan!” his twin appeared next to him.

“Shua, Cheol! take Dino away!”

“No. _ALL_ of you, get away from the windows!”

Seungcheol’s warning came in time, just as the giant harpy stuck his claws into the windows next to Jeonghan’s seat. Jeonghan felt a gush of wind push him and Dino onto the floor, towards the middle of the bus. Whether it was Seungcheol’s doing or a blast from the exploded windows, Jeonghan didn’t know. All he knew was the ache in his arm and ears...someone in the bus had been screaming loudly and consistently, while all this happened. Jeonghan had a feeling it was Seungkwan.

In his pained state, everything seemed to move in slow motion for Jeonghan. Cold dread gripped his heart in a fearful embrace as he realized just how close they had come to death. If he had moved just a second slower, he and Dino would have been bird food by now.

“Seungkwan, Qi Tong! He needs your help!” Cried Joshua as he and Dino applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding on Jeonghan’s arm.

He could vaguely see the Apollo kids squeezing past the other demigods to make their way to Jeonghan. Most of the bus’ occupants were crammed to the middle and right side of the bus, as they tried to avoid the giant harpy who was busy destroying the bus’ left windows. The bus’ right windows were still thankfully intact and thus shielded them well from the smaller harpies’ attacks. 

When the giant harpy’s claw reappeared near Jeonghan’s seat again, DK and Jun rushed forward with a battlecry and began fearlessly whacking the giant claw with their shoes. 

Jeonghan didn’t think that the harpy felt anything. 

Then from behind, Mingyu suddenly appeared with a ball of flames, hovering in his hands. The son of Hephaestus tried to aim towards the giant harpy, but the shaky bus was not an ideal place to do so. He missed and flames licked Hoshi’s clothes instead.

The son of Poseidon flailed his hand in panic before Annabeth kindly reminded him of his ability to control water. 

Jeonghan didn’t know which was more painful, the wound on his arm or the _idiocy_ of his fellow Demigods.

“Idiot-Gyu! Don’t use your powers here! We’ll all be fried Demigods, before you even fry that bird!” yelled Seungcheol, who had moved to help the others somewhere at the back.

“Y-yes Seungcheol-hyung! Sorry Hoshi-hyung!”

As if annoyed by their stupidity, the giant harpy retracted its claws from the windows and planted one claw on the roof, while the other perched onto the window ledge. Then it _peered_ into the bus, giving the Demigods a clear view of its twisted, human-like face. 

The giant harpy smiled menacingly as if to say “You’re next”, before it tried to enter the bus. 

It headed straight towards the place where Jeonghan was sitting.

Immediately Joshua, and even Dino, put a protective arm in front of him. From the corner of Jeonghan’s eyes, he could see the daughter of Ares, Minnie and Na Ri, Seungcheol, Woozi and even Annabeth, who were seated at the back of the bus, all rushing towards him. But they would be too late. 

Jeinghan had to do something. If that stupid giant harpy hurt Dino and his brother under his watch, he would personally go to tartarus and rip this piece of bird fluff with his own bare hands.

The injured son of Aphrodite pushed Dino aside, and put as much power as he could into his voice.

"Yah! You pile of bird fluff, _**DO NOT ENTER this bus**_!“

The giant harpy immediately jerked back in fear. Its claws left the bus, but the bird still hovered nearby, as it screeched in confusion and anger. 

Jeonghan slumped back tiredly. “I-It should buy us a couple of minutes…”

“You did well. Leave the rest to us.” said Annabeth, who was the first to reach them, followed by Woozi and Seungkwan. She pushed Jeonghan behind her and dragged the shaken trio, further into the safety of the bus. Seungkwan immediately began healing, and Qi Tong joined to do the same. 

Woozi went the opposite way, towards the broken windows where the giant harpy was still shaking its head.

Without hesitation, the son of Hades jumped out of the moving bus, just as rope-like shadows came out from his sleeves and entwined itself onto the harpy’s neck and body. 

“Seal the windows now!” was the last thing they heard from Woozi, before the giant harpy flew away with its additional passenger.

His command seemed to wake everyone up from their dazed state. Na Ri, Minnie, Hoshi and Seungcheol positioned themselves at the broken windows as they prevented the other harpies from attacking them through the gaping hole. The rest of the group scampered around to look for something that could be used to cover the broken windows.

“DK, here!” Wonwoo signaled his junior to come to the front.

“Yes hyung?”

“Can you use this plant to cover the windows?” The son of Athena passed him a lucky bamboo that had previously decorated the bus’ dashboard.

DK studied at the plant for a second and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll try it. Thanks hyung!”

The son of Demeter hurried back to the windowless area. Swiftly, he linked his power and whispered his blessings to the said plant. The lucky bamboo was bathed in green light, before it started to multiply, growing larger and wider as it did so. Soon it grew into rectangular shapes, where it perfectly filled the holes on the bus’ left side. 

“Done!” DK beamed.

His happiness was broken just a moment later, when a familiar-looking claw pierced through the bamboo. It was soon followed by an equally familiar-sounding loud screech. DK's face fell as his hard work was destroyed in one swipe. 

Jeonghan couldn't help but think. “Today was not the lucky bamboo’s lucky day.”

With one final crack, DK’s not-so-lucky bamboo broke in two, revealing one giant harpy, along with one, battered and bruised Woozi. The short Demigod had been desperately trying to swallow the harpy into his darkness, but with it slamming him all over the signboards, trees and cars, his attempts were not working well. Still, he held onto the monster, trying to restrict its movement as much as he could.

A shout of joy from Seungkwan alerted Jeonghan of Vernon’s arrival. The hunter was jumping from car to car, making his way back towards them while shooting down nearby harpies. Vernon looked tired and scratched, but otherwise unhurt. Along with Vernon, Minghao was also seen heading back towards their bus. But instead of jumping on cars, the son of Ares was jumping from harpy to harpy, slashing the monsters on its neck before hopping onto the next one. The teamwork between the two was certainly effective, but Jeonghan was more focused on one particular detail. 

The son of Ares was covered in blood...a hell lot _more_ than Jeonghan was...Minghao was injured!

“Cheol...anytime _now_ , would be a good time to fully use your powers.” Jeonghan gritted out when he saw Seungcheol and Hoshi coming towards him. 

Then the bus started shaking violently as the roof of their bus was slowly being ripped open. 

Next to him, Seungkwan wailed his agreements. “OH MY G-Hyung! RIGHT NOW would be REALLY good timing!”

Seeing Seungkwan’s desperation or maybe, Jeonghan’s murderous glare, seemed to motivate their leader. Seungcheol took deep breaths before looking up, “Yes. Now is a good time. So please work, please work, please _WORK_!” 

The air around them crackled and the smell of Ozone filled Jeonghan’s nose. Electricity started sizzling out of Seungcheol’s hands and the tips of his hair were turning silver. The son of Zeus picked up his sword while muttering, “They’re just birds...they’re just birds...Piles of bird fluff like what Jeonghan says. _Just. Bird. Fluff_.” And then he was out of the bus, flying, zapping and slashing the harpies as if they were made of...cotton fluffs.

Maybe Jeonghan should insult monsters more often, if it would bring out such an amazing potential from Seungcheol. 

Next to him, Hoshi visibly vibrated in excitement as he watched the flying son of Zeus. A loud splash that accompanied Hoshi’s next whoop of excitement, made Jeonghan glance out of the bus in suspicion. His suspicion turned into dread when he saw that the highway was above the sea right now. 

The dark blue waters were unnaturally choppy, even when there were no strong winds. The churning sea seemed to splash against the highway, just in time with Hoshi’s excited cheering. An unnaturally high tide hit the highway just as Hoshi unsheathed his sword. Luckily, Jeonghan wasn’t the only one who noticed the anomaly.

Joshua’s and Annabeth’s hands shot out to grab Hoshi, when the son of Poseidon climbed onto the bus’ seat, to try and fight a low-flying harpy.

“Kwon Soonyoung! Calm yourself down! Are you trying to bring down this highway?” chastised Joshua as he pointed towards the restless waters below them. 

Hoshi looked out the window and gulped in horror. He was...too close to the sea. It was too easy to create floods or storms, but he won’t be able to control it. Which means that Hoshi might accidentally destroy the highway, or worsen their fight against the harpies. Then all his friends would die because of his incompetence, and Woozi probably won’t ever talk to him again, after their horrible deaths.

“Uh- Yeah, no...I’m just gonna...help DK water the plants or something. I’ll leave the fighting to the others. Sorry and thanks guys!” 

With that, Hoshi bounded towards the son of Demeter, who was trying to reinforce the broken windows and the partially missing roof, with more lucky bamboos. 

Without any roof above him, Mingyu was on fire… _literally_.

Flames now fully engulfed both of his hands, as the son of Hephaestus sent out blasts of fire towards any harpies that tried to take advantage of their missing rooftop. By aiming skywards, Mingyu didn’t have to worry about accidentally burning a Demigod, since most of them were not flying.

The Demigods were fighting and defending, in that position for a few more minutes, before a loud command echoed in the battlefield.

"All of you- GET INTO THE BUS _NOW_!” shouted Wonwoo to those who were jumping, riding, flying and...basically, anyone who wasn't a harpy, to return to the bus. The son of Athena gestured towards the tunnel that loomed ahead of them. 

Luckily, they responded quickly. One by one, the Demigods came back into the bus. Some landed clumsily on DK’s bamboo rooftop, while others completely disregarded the bamboo roof and simply broke through it. 

DK facepalmed in resignation. 

Once they entered the dimly lit tunnel, the son of Athena began shouting his orders.

“Guys, kill the lights behind us! Then Woozi, DK and Junnie, closed off the tunnels! Seungcheol hyung, help them!”

All of their wargames and training were paid off, as all the relevant people immediately jumped into action. Vernon and the three Ares children immediately shot at the tunnel lights with a combination of arrows and spears. Then from the darkened tunnel entrance, Woozi created a net of shadows, stretched from floor to the tunnel’s ceiling. Seungcheol then used his powers to push off any vehicles that were caught in between Woozi’s shadow net. Lastly, with the help of Jun and DK, thick grape vines curled around the black net, creating a more corporal net, that blocked both the traffic and harpies from entering the tunnel.

Once the plants grew in accordance with the net’s shape, Woozi released his shadows and slumped back tiredly. Jun and DK followed him next. They were absolutely drained but it was worth it. The bus heaved a collective sigh of relief when they heard the harpies’ angry screeches in the far distance. They were no longer followed.

Their short victory relief was broken by Dino’s worried voice. “Hyungs...are you guys ok?”

"MINGHAO! YOU'RE INJURED!" Seungkwan exclaimed in lieu of an answer. 

The Demigod in question shrugged. "M’fine. No broken bones here."

Seungkwan glared at him. "Oh really? Unfortunately for you, I’m the doctor. So, you’ll listen to what I say."

The sassy doctor then started enthusiastically poking Minghao here and there, but he pouted once he finished his examination. "Humph, there’s really no broken bones... _but_ , you got a nasty cut at your leg, a claw-like cut on your shoulder, a slash on your stomach and your head. Plus, there’s a huge bruise all over your back. Now, what’ve you got to say about that?!" 

"...That I have to thank Vernon for saving me, before I get more of these cuts and bruises?" 

Seungkwan opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "You… you… God..." he pressed onto Minghao’s bruises in revenge, causing him to squirm in pain. 

Feeling pitiful towards the son of Ares, Sungcheol decided to ask. "And how's Jeonghan?" 

"It's not too bad. There’s a deep gash near his arteries that could’ve caused him to bleed to death, but we managed to fix it with our healing powers. He’s fine now." Qi tong answered, when Seungkwan glowered in silence.

Of course, Seungkwan’s silence didn’t last long. In fact, the son of Apollo exploded in anger.

“Seriously, _all_ of you need to love your body more! You know, _love_? You need to be thankful to have a healthy body! And you need to _protect_ it! ESPECIALLY YOU MINGHAO! Based on how reckless you were out there- oh don’t you roll your eyes at me! You think you look cool jumping into a flying flock of harpies, _when you can’t even fly_? Take a look at Vernon! He was so elegant out there, with the way he protects himself and fights from a safe distance...that’s something all of you should follow!” 

Everyone stared at him in stunned silence. Since when did Seungkwan have the time to look at the battle outside? 

Well, apparently he did. And the son of Apollo wasn’t done yet.

Seungkwan pointed to Woozi next. “AND YOU! I told you many times before, that you can’t use your powers like you are opening a _freaking floodgate_! You think your powers are limitless? NO ITS NOT! You’re flinging your shadows here and there while the harpies were _also_ flinging you here and there...you think I don’t know that YOU’RE FULL OF BRUISES?” 

The pink face of anger then turned to Seungcheol. “YOU TOO! You think you’re superman? Why do you keep flying _straight into_ the enemy?! Superman won't get cut up like you do! You got zippy-zapping powers for Zeus’ sake, so ZAP them from a DISTANCE! Don’t come to me bleeding all over! You look like a zombie from a lame b-rated movie that’s trying to kill me!”  
Seungkwan glared at the rest of the injured Demigods. ”Is that what all of you are trying to do? Kill me by over-exhausting myself from healing all of your _reckless_ injuries?! HUH?” 

The sassy doctor paused as he had to take a breath, but he gave a satisfied huff when he saw the ashamed looks on his patients’ faces. That’ll teach them to be more careful in the future.

“Now where’s that satyr, who couldn't even tell us the weakness of the harpies, before knocking his head and fainting?” said Seungkwan with an exaggerated sigh.

Silence filled the bus as everyone turned to look at Grover, who was still blissfully passed out on the seat near the front of the bus. At least someone had the decency to strap Grover’s seatbelts on.

A chuckle broke the silence, and they all turned towards Annabeth, who was trying - and failing - to control her laughter. 

It was the first time that Jeonghan felt emotions from Annabeth, aside from her grief and despair. The son of Aphrodite studied her a little longer, before recognizing the emotions reflected on her face. 

Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad that the physical fight is over...up next is a battle of nerves! XD  
> What did u guys think about their powers? Anything weird or unclear? Shoot a question if u hv questions!^^  
> And don't worry if your fave SVT member didn't appear enough in this battle...they have a LOT of others battles in the future!  
> Comments & Kudos r much appreciated~Thanks:)


	8. Ch 7 - Are we there yet? (Woozi)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another chapter~  
> As promised, here's another battle but this time...its' a battle of nerves! (For certain members onlyXD)  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Happy reading~

Woozi promised himself to never ever get hurt again. _Ever_.

Or at least do it when Seungkwan’s not around.

His poor ears were still ringing from Seungkwan's loud nagging. For each wound he healed, the son of Apollo provided a free, long lecture to each of his patients. And when they weren’t listening, Seungkwan applied pressure to their wounds, making them squealed like terrified little girls. It was mortifying and painful. Minghao tried to avoid his lecture by asking the other child of Apollo, Qi Tong, to heal him. But once Seungkwan noticed it, it was like having a Hellhound in the bus. Minghao learned the hard way to never pissed off Apollo’s kids. 

Luckily, the rest of their journey was free of monsters. When they finally entered the airport’s parking area, Woozi breathed a sigh of relief. Mostly because he didn't think that the bus was actually going to make it this far. 

Their bus no longer looked like a normal tour bus. Firstly, their roof was gone. Secondly, the bus smelled like burning rubber due to Wonwoo’s high-speed race on the highway. The massive black smoke coming from the bottom of their bus, hinted just exactly how fried the engines were. Lastly, there were Chinese New Year bamboo-looking plants, growing all over the bus, but mostly at the places where their windows were supposed to be. The lucky bamboo blocked most of their sight, but it also blocked other mortals’ curious gazes.

From what DK said, this type of plant was supposed to bring luck and prosperity to its owner. 

Yeah, they were lucky this time.

Sure, they did meet around 40 harpies the moment they entered the highway, but hey, they _survived_. And the fact that the bus managed to drag all seventeen of them to the airport after such a horrific attack, was nothing short of a miracle. 

Maybe, it _was_ the lucky bamboo all along. He should ask DK to plant some in camp Banshin. They all needed luck after all.

The bus’ door opened with a hiss and a dead-tired Wonwoo emerged from the driver seat. 

“Let’s go.” he said and wobbled out of the bus. 

Mingyu immediately rushed to follow, almost as if he was worried that the other would collapse. And seriously, since when were they so close to each other? Like, how did Woozi not notice their relationship before? Well, Mingyu had always been like a little puppy following Wonwoo around. Okay, the word _little_ wasn't suitable to describe Mingyu, but the image still stands. But since when did Wonwoo reciprocate to his love?

Woozi sighed. If he did get back to Camp Banshin alive, he would make sure to collect his winnings from the betting pool. Those rascals better kept his share.

Once everyone disembarked from the bus, Seungcheol pulled Grover aside.

“Grover! How are we going to return the bus?” he whispered urgently.

The satyr gave a forced smile. “Well there’s nothing much we can do right? I mean look at it. It's not too bad…The humans just needed to do a little fixing. Like the windows...the roof...the seats...the tires...the engines…maybe a fresh coat of paint, and it’ll be good as new!”

Seungcheol frowned. “But isn’t it like asking them to get a new bus.” 

“Oh it is nothing like that!” Grover began, before quickly and smoothly leading Seungcheol away from the bus, effectively distracting their leader with possible plans for when they reached Camp Half Blood.

Jeonghan herded their group to the entrance and did another roll call to ensure that everyone was ready, before they entered Seoul International Airport. 

Woozi stared at the airport entrance in horror.

There had been a nagging feeling of fear on the back of his mind, ever since he heard about the decision to fly to America. Woozi had planned to argue about it, but he had forgotten to bring it up because of those damned Harpies. Then he was high on adrenaline from the fight and that fear was subdued. 

Now, as he stood inside the airport and saw the planes flying over their heads, that fear had sharply risen to an almost panic level. Woozi studied those flying, deadly, metal boxes. The roar of the engines seemed to say, _Enter me and I’ll explode_. 

Surely he wasn’t alone in thinking so? How could the other Demigods be comfortable in trespassing into Zeus’ domain?!

Woozi looked around in desperation...and almost cried in happiness when he found a comrade. Hoshi looks paler than usual and he kept flinching everytime a plane passed by. The shorter man quickly walked over to his comrade, and squeezed his shoulders.

The son of Poseidon looked up questioningly, before his tiny eyes widened in realization.

“You too?” Hoshi gasped.

He gave a nervous chuckle at Woozi’s nod. “Then can we link arms for courage?”

It was no secret that Woozi hated skin contact. He wanted to decline, but then his mouth betrayed him. “Okay.”

He didn’t know who was more surprised at his answer, himself or Hoshi.

Not wasting the chance given, Hoshi immediately grabbed his arms. “Ah...I feel a wee bit better...Thanks Woozi. I hope we can survive this...”

Woozi frowned at his arm, but decided to focus on the more important matter. Which was flying. Can somebody help them get out of this mess?

As if she heard his plea, Annabeth suddenly materialized in front of them. She gave them a knowing smile. “Feeling scared?” 

Both boys nodded stiffly.

The daughter of Athena smiled. “Percy was afraid of flying as well. He was afraid that Zeus would shoot down the plane or something. But Zeus never did. Not only that, this time you have his child on the same plane as you. I believe that you’ll be alright.”

The two boys gave her disbelieving looks. 

Annabeth’s smile turned sly. “Actually, during one of my...quests with Percy, we travelled by air before. Not only both of us, but with 8 other demigods. Among them was a son of Hades and...Jupiter. We all survived the flight. So, this may only be a hypothesis but during a quest, especially a dire one, the Gods’ were usually more forgiving to Demigods who crossed over into their territories.”

Woozi remained skeptical but next to him, Hoshi squirmed excitedly.

“Wait, I know this tale! Was it during the first ever, cooperation between Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter? You were aboard the Argo II weren’t you? Jason Grace was there and Nico di Angelo joined later on!”

Oh, of course he would know. Hoshi memorized almost every single tale concerning Percy Jackson.

Annabeth nodded in confirmation. “Yes. At that time, we flew and sailed in Argo II. Crossed into both of Zeus’ and Poseidon’s territories, but we were fine. The Gods’ won’t really interfere during a quest. You might experience discomfort but we won’t be zapped to death by Zeus. Trust me, Hoshi and Woozi. All of us here will be fine.” 

With that, she ruffled the boys’ head and walked ahead to join Seungcheol, Jeonghan and Joshua at the front of their group. 

Belatedly, Woozi realized that his senior campers had just successfully completed their group-checked in. He didn’t realize that they were led to the Korean Airline’s counter, while he was distracted by his conversation with Annabeth.

As they were ushered towards the boarding gate, Seungcheol looked back with an apologetic smile, while Jeonghan gave him a smug one. Joshua and Annabeth both gave them thumbs up. Woozi glared at all of his seniors. Except Annabeth, because he did appreciate her distraction and her hypothesis. Most ‘hypotheses’ by Children of Athena ended up being true after all. He decided to trust in Annabeth’s.

Didn’t mean he had to like it though.

Walking towards the plane felt like a walk through Tartarus...wait, Woozi would prefer to walk through Tartarus rather than ride a plane. He was sure that Hoshi was feeling the same. Though the son of Poseidon had been excited about Argo II’s tales, he turned quiet at the entrance of the boarding gate. Hoshi’s clammy hands were gripping Woozi’s hands so tightly, that it would have cut off his blood circulation, had his blood been circulating in the first place. Currently, Woozi felt drained out of blood.

“Tickets please.” The air stewardess asked methodically. She looked like a smiling executioner to him. Woozi tried to look confident, but his pale, shaking hands betrayed him. 

The air stewardess suddenly glanced sharply at their linked hands. Her eyes narrowed as she gave them a once-over and the corner of her mouth twitched in distaste. It made Woozi extremely uncomfortable, for reasons not related to flying. 

“Hai, hai~ Here’s my ticket Miss.” Jeonghan suddenly cut in between them, as he gave her his ticket for inspection.

Plastered on Jeonghan’s face was an angelic smile, but the aura surrounding him was downright intimidating. Woozi just knew that his hyung was livid. The air stewardess fumbled as she processed what Jeonghan was saying. 

“Ah- y-yes, please wait a moment.” replied the poor girl as she quickly scanned the tickets.

Without warning, Jeonghan leaned in to whisper. “Y’know as an air stewardess, you _really_ ought to learn how to do your job _properly_.” 

It was said softly, but it felt as if Jeonghan had just stabbed the air stewardess in her gut. 

Her knees suddenly gave way and the air stewardess collapsed. Her entire body was shaking. She gave a fearful glance towards Jeonghan and someone else behind Woozi. The son of Hades turned around to find Joshua's eyes glowing cheerfully in pink. The Aphrodite twin winked at Woozi.

Jeonghan faked a concerned look. “Oh no! Someone collapsed! Are you okay Miss?” 

“I...I…s-sorry….” She stuttered as tears flowed out from her eyes. Her colleagues rushed to help her, and someone took over her position immediately. The new staff served them quickly and efficiently, letting the group pass through without any more trouble. 

Once out of sight, Jeonghan and Joshua hi-fived each other. 

“Hah! All in the name of love!” Jeonghan grinned.

“How dare she judge two people in love? She deserves that.” Joshua grinned back at his brother. 

Woozi and Hoshi froze at their conversation. 

“Wha- What love?!” Hoshi exclaimed, rapidly turning pink. 

Woozi pointed to their linked hand. “Is it because of this? This is just because we’re comrades who are afraid to enter Zeus’ domain! There’s _nothing_ going on between us!” 

Jeonghan and Joshua turned a cheshire-like grin at them. Woozi gulped at the sight.

“Oh, you’ll never know~” Jeonghan began.

“Love can happen anytime and anywhere.” finished Joshua.

The twins then proceeded to link their arms and skipped happily away. But not before the two overheard the twin devil’s excited whispers. “We’re so going to win the Hoshi x Woozi bet!” 

“Yah! You both!” Woozi shouted in annoyance. He was going to bash some sense into their love-filled brains.

Hoshi rolled up his sleeves in anger. “What the- Those 2 devils! I bet Mingyu and Wonwoo's relationship was planned by them! I mean, how could they possibly win _every single_ matchmaking bet? They must’ve been pulling the strings all along! LET ME TELL YOU, I WON”T LET YOU WIN THIS ROUND! I’LL NEVER LOVE WOOZI!” He shouted loudly, causing some people to give them funny glances.

Woozi glared at the strangers glancing at them. Somehow, he felt a little hurt by how determined Hoshi sounded. Did Hoshi really have no feelings for him? Woozi froze when he listened to his own thoughts. No, he had to stop. He won’t not let the two sons of Aphrodite influence him. He has no feeling for the Son of Poseidon. 

Once they were all in the plane, Seungcheol made another roll call to confirm everyone's attendance. In some rare occurrence, Woozi and Hoshi ended up seating together. In unison, the two turned towards Jeonghan and Joshua, who were already grinning at them. 

“Those two…” Woozi gritted his teeth. “If you do it again, I’ll personally throw you both to Tartarus!”

Jeonghan gave a coy smile. “Oh no~ The big bad Woozi is coming for me!”

Woozi groaned and cursed, but he sat down at his designated seat when another passenger gave him the stink eye.

From the seat in front, Jun turned around and smiled at them. “Oh, seems like both of you are no longer panicking from the flight, that’s good!”

Hoshi and Woozi turned pale at the same time. 

“Yeah as expected, both of you are really strong! Unlike me...I’m still terrified of the plane. What if I die?” DK asked nervously.

“Then you die.” said Minghao, as he casually surfed through the plane’s TV shows from his seat on the next aisle. Jun giggled at DK’s horrified expression.

Jun is sweet but _why_ did he have to remind them of their fear, while they are _inside_ the plane? 

From the corner of his eyes, Woozi saw Hoshi’s hands slowly and hesitantly inched closer to his hands. Yet because of what Jeonghan and Joshua said, it seemed that Hoshi was hesitating to reach out. 

Woozi rolled his eyes and grabbed Hoshi’s hands. He felt Hoshi’s jolt of surprise.

“We’re just comrades who have a fear of flying.” Woozi said casually and determinedly. “We’re just helping one another. Don’t be affected by what those two said.” 

He felt Hoshi’s hand relaxed.

“Okay. Thanks Woozi.” 

Then the announcement came.

“Please put on your seat belt, the plane is about to take off.”

Immediately, Woozi tightened his grip. He vaguely felt Hoshi doing the same. The plane moved and Woozi tried to focus on himself, rather than his surroundings. 

He felt his lips turning dryer and dryer. 

His heart was pounding faster and faster. 

And the alarming fear of _trespassing_ got stronger and stronger. 

After an eternity later, when he no longer felt movements from the flying metal death box that he was in, Woozi forced his mouth open to squeeze out a question.

“Are we there yet?” He whispered weakly. 

Once again, it was Jun who turned around. “What are you talking about Uji? We just took off. We've got about 14 more hours to go~” 

The last thing Woozi remembered was Hoshi’s whimper and an overwhelming sense of dread, before the blissful darkness overtook his consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep they took a plane to New York~ Gotta give them some rest after the harpy fight^^  
> As you can see, Demigods with stronger powers will be more affected by modern items (smartphones, planes, etc)  
> Hoshi & Woozi especially so since they are part of the big 3 :)  
> If you hv any questions, feel free to ask us! Comments & Kudos r much appreciated. Thank You~


	9. Ch 8 - Of Misspellings and Minotaurs (Seungcheol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit late to post but hey, it's still Monday~  
> We're approaching Camp HB soon! Expect more battles & a bit more OCs appearing :)  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Happy reading~

They made it out alive.

Seungcheol was _this_ close to kneeling on the floor in gratitude. Thank the Gods that nothing dangerous happened during their flight. If a monster had attacked the plane, they would’ve been in so much trouble, seeing that he was the only one who could actually fly.

But thankfully, it was a peaceful and uneventful flight. Not counting the fact that Woozi had actually fainted right after the plane took off.

Actually, the flight might be peaceful _because_ of that. Seungcheol sent a silent prayer of thanks to Hypnos, or to whichever God that has the power to make people faint.

As they were getting ready to get off the plane, Seungcheol saw the Aphrodite twins giggling and taking pictures at the direction of Woozi and Hoshi’s seat. Curious, he got closer to see what the twins were up to.

Apparently after Woozi ‘fainted’, Hoshi had put up the armrest between their seats and proceeded to huddle for comfort. He then fell asleep while he was splayed all over Woozi, head pillowed on Woozi’s shoulders, while his hands and legs curled up on the other like an octopus. Woozi didn’t seem to mind the extra weight. The black haired son of Hades was fast asleep, unconsciously snuggling closer to the source of heat next to him. 

Seungcheol resisted the urge to take out his camera. He’s the leader. He must do the right thing. Besides, he’s sure that Jeonghan already had pictures. Seungcheol could always get a copy later. 

With that, he shook both of them awake.

“Do you guys want to stay in the plane forever?” he raised an eyebrow in amusement.

At the word ‘plane’, the two demigods shot up from their seats and looked around. 

“Oh, we landed. And I’m still alive, thank god! It’s finally over!” Hoshi cheered as he bounced around, hugging his fellow demigods in happiness, before joining the group who were queueing to disembark. 

Woozi was slower to react. He blinked blearily to study his surroundings, before a dark look suddenly crossed his face when he saw Hoshi hugging their friends. Then the son of Hades noticed Seungcheol’s gaze on him, and his expression smoothed out to its usual semi-frown look, before he disappeared into the shadows.

Wait just a- Did Woozi just use his powers in front of mortals? 

Seungcheol turned around to check the reactions around him. Luckily, the other passengers behaved as though nothing unusual had happened. Still, he should reprimand Woozi for using his powers in such a public place like this. After all, not all mortals were affected by The Mist. 

When they entered the immigration area, Woozi was already waiting for them. Though his posture was casual, his expression was like cold jade, accompanied with an icy glare that could freeze people in their place.

“Woozi, why did you shadow-walked out of the plane? We could all go together.” Seungcheol asked gently. For whatever reason, Woozi seemed pissed off and Seungcheol didn’t want to aggravate him any further. 

“Nothing. Just too many people. I don’t like it.” Woozi muttered as he walked off ahead. 

The son of Zeus tilted his head in confusion. Something seemed wrong about Woozi...Just then Jeonghan walked past, and Seungcheol called him out immediately. His friend had always been the better one at understanding the campers’ emotions.

“What’s up Cheol?” Jeonghan replied with a much-too-innocent look on his face. 

“I’m just wondering if you noticed anything off about Woozi?” 

Jeonghan blinked a few times as though he was confused, but then a sudden gleam entered his eyes. “Something off about Woozi you say? Like what?”

Seungcheol shrugged as they queued up. “He seems pissed off at Hoshi...when he was being loud and hugging the others on the plane. But Hosh didn’t hug Woozi this time cause he knew it’ll make Woozi mad so I don’t know why Woozi is _still_ mad…”

Jeonghan’s smile grew wider and wider, but he didn’t provide Seungcheol with an answer. “Oh what could it possibly be? I have no idea~” 

That Aphrodite snake then skipped away to seek the other snake, and the two giggling twins went towards the immigration officer.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes and went next. It couldn’t possibly be a relationship problem for Woozi. The guy is such a rational and practical person. He would definitely be able to deal with his relationships in the most logical way. Woozi must just be grumpy over the long flight, or maybe he was worried over the upcoming battle or something. 

His attention however, was soon wrenched away as soon as they walked out towards JFK’s arrival hall.

A tacky white banner was being held by a group of boys. On it, written in big, bold font was a mix of english and clumsy korean letters, “WELCOME TO AMERICA MR. CHILL SUNGCHOI & Mr. Grover!”

Several campers snickered behind him and Jeonghan even took a picture of the banner. Grover too, seemed absolutely elated, but for different reasons.The satyr rushed towards their welcoming committee and hugged all of them in excitement.

“Nuxxies! I can’t believe you guys are really here! Baahh! I’m so glad! I thought all of you went into hiding.” 

“Oh when we heard that you’re bringing Demigods to fight, we just have to come and help! After all they’re our last hope. You even manage to get the big 3 children! They’ll definitely have a fighting chance!” Said one of the bigger satyrs, Nuxxies, as he studied the Demigods.

“We trust you Mr Grover! So where do you want to go? We’ll get you there for sure!” he finished confidently. 

“Thanks guys! Camp Half Blood is our destination.” Grover replied with the same enthusiasm.

The whole group froze. You could hear a pin drop in the following silence.

“Uh. You want to go where?”

“We need you to bring us to Camp Half Blood.” Annabeth replied on Grover’s behalf as she herded the group to a corner.

What happened next was unexpected.

Nuxxies threw up the tacky banner and bleated a terrified, “Baaahhh! RUNNN!” 

Seungcheol had never seen a group of satyrs run this fast before. 

He was snapped out of his shock by Wonwoo, who was first to recover. “GUYS! Block them.” 

Minghao, Na Ri and Minnie moved on command and managed to surround the escaping satyrs. The Ares kids hissed to intimidate them. 

Sungcheol chewed his lips nervously. Why did they remind him of wolves who were about to slaughter the goats escaping from the farm...well judging from the situation, that description wasn’t too far off the mark, but still. 

“Err, guys don’t you think that you’re a bit _too intimidating_? They are our allies y’know.” 

Seungcheol tried to show some consideration to the satyrs, but they remained wary and uncooperative.

Seeing a stalemate, Wonwoo quickly walked over to Nuxxies. His smile was commanding yet somewhat kind. “We need your help, just as much as you need ours. We’re not asking for much, please just bring us near Camp Half Blood.” 

“But…” The big satyr turned to Grover, his eyes wet and pleading. “There’s nothing there but death…the camp was completely overrun with monsters. Our scouts that went...none of them returned...t-there’s nothing left! Please Mr Grover, please don’t send us to our death!”

Grover turned pale. He looked like he was going to be sick. Seungcheol felt the same way, but they really do need a guide. He tried to flash a comforting smile.

“We’re not sending you to your death...All we need are directions and transportation to a safe place near Camp Half Blood. Will that be okay?” 

Grover had snapped out of his thoughts and began nodding vigorously. “Yes. Just send us to the closest nearby place where it’s safe for you guys.”

Nuxxies looked reluctant, but after Grover’s continuous pleas, the big satyr finally relented. "Fine...I’ll bring you only to the edge of the forest…And the others would not be following us. Deal?” 

At the Demigods’ frantic nodding, Nuxxies began his preparations. “We’ll need a car...no, something bigger. Mamal...find us a bus would you?”

Mamal, a brown satyr next to Nuxxies, looked as though he wanted to argue, but one look from Nuxxies was enough to shut him up. He quickly scampered off to fetch said bus. 

The walk towards the pick up area was depressing and quiet. Seungcheol was eerily reminded of a funeral procession, as the rest of the satyrs were openly grieving, already wailing Nuxxies’ name as if he was dead.

Nuxxies, who was still very much _alive_ , was busy hugging and kissing his family on their foreheads. He told them to hide and lay low. 

Seungcheol felt as if he had forced Nuxxies to commit sucide or something. Was he really doing the right thing?

A hand appeared on his shoulders and gave him a comforting squeeze.

“Don’t regret it. Don’t fear your decisions. This is a fight for our lives, hyung. If I need to sacrifice a hundred to save a thousand, I would take it. And I know you will too. So leader-nim, trust us and yourself more.” said Wonwoo, his voice was low and cold but his face was full of worry. 

The son of Zeus studied his junior. Wonwoo too, seemed to be afraid that his choices would be a mistake. But unlike Seungcheol, he was brave enough to take charge, to continue pushing forward. Meanwhile he, their leader, kept fretting over stupid things and even froze at crucial moments. Some leader he was. He was such a failure.

Luckily, Seungcheol’s depressing answers were cut off when a yellow school bus came into their view. Seriously, what’s it with them and _yellow_ busses?

Once parked, Mamal got off the bus. His eyes were downcast and big fast tear droplets fell to the ground. 

“Nuxxies...Come back to us soon.”

Their Satyr guide gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry! Look, I have so many demigods by my side! I’ll be fine.”

The two shared another hug before Nuxxies motioned for the group to enter the bus. 

As the Demigods boarded the vehicle, Seungcheol saw Annabeth pulling Nuxxies aside. “If you’re uncomfortable, I can drive to camp half blood instead.” She offered kindly.

Surprisingly, Nuxxies shook his head. “I’m afraid it’ll be hard for you to navigate. When those monsters took over...things changed...It’s best that I drive. And I’ll be using a different road to avoid their detection.

Annabeth nodded slowly. “Okay. Then...Did you have news about my children?” 

“Yes. As per your request, we kept watch of them. They’re safe at their boarding school. Thank gods that your children didn’t have Demigod’s divinity smell, or the monsters wouldn’t have left them alone.” Nuxxies’ face then turned sour. “I’m not sure what that... _thing_ has planned, but in order to prevent any monsters from noticing your kids, we have to keep our distance. I’m sorry we can’t do much.” 

“No, that's plenty enough…Thank you so much Nuxxies.” 

Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, Seungcheol quickly bypassed that touching scene and boarded the bus awkwardly. He sat down beside the son of Hades, who was silently brooding by the windows.

The mood on the bus was peaceful.

Across from them, Wonwoo was busy studying the map of Camp Half Blood, courtesy of Annabeth. His spectacles kept comically sliding off his face and he took it out in frustration. 

“Why is this- Did I squish it out of shape on the plane earlier?”

Mingyu appeared next to him and took the spectacles in question. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix it for you.”

The son of Athena smiled. “Thanks. Then I’ll just take a short break. Let me know when you fixed it?”

Mingyu grinned back and gave him a peck. “5 minutes is all I need.”

Seungcheol looked away, feeling that he had seen too much from that particular pair of juniors. He immediately looked for other things to put his attention on. Preferably, something not romance. He cast a curious glance at the excited chatters coming from the children of Ares.

“Minghao-hyung! Let’s have a competition on how many monsters we can kill.” Minnie smiled brightly as she clung onto Minghao's arm.

Minghao snorted. “Don’t you always lose to me?”

The younger girl gasped as though she was shocked. “Didn’t you lose to me in that one war game?"

“What?! No, I did not. I was just distracted by Na Ri’s antics!” replied the elder brother.

“And that’s why you lost!” Na Ri chuckled. “You always say a true warrior doesn't get distracted by anything.”

“Fine then. Let’s have that bet! What do you want?” Minghao asked.

Na Ri jumped in her seat. “I want you to treat us Jjajangmyun!”

Minghao folded his arm as though he was offended by their suggestion. “Excuse me, you make it sound as if I never give you food. I’ve been treating you to Jjajangmyun ever since you came! Think of another reward.”

Minnie’s hand shot up. “I know, I know! You can teach us how to use the nunchuck!”

“Hmm, alright deal. And if you lose, then _you_ will treat me to Jjajangmyun instead.” Minghao said with a mischievous wink.

“Deal!” they both grinned. 

They started talking enthusiastically about battle strategies right after, and Seungcheol had to stifle his laugh. Typical Ares kids.

He looked around again and Vernon immediately caught his eyes. Mostly because the boy looked...fidgety. Vernon looked as if he would rather be anywhere else, other than seating trapped between Seungkwan and the window. The son of Apollo was blatantly staring. If demigods could be eaten up by a look, Vernon would have long been eaten. 

If Seungkwan wanted to catch Vernon's attention that badly, he should’ve just asked Jeonghan or Joshua. After all, almost 80% of the couples in the camp were formed by them.

Suddenly, Dino shot up from his seat. "Look at the screen!!! We are on the news!!" 

All eyes were soon glued onto the big screen that was displayed on some big mall that the bus was passing by. They were on the morning news.

_Moving on to international news. A flock of black birds descended and attacked a highway in South Korea, creating an almost 2-hour traffic delay for the people of Seoul. These unknown birds left huge dents on numerous cars, busses, lorries and trucks but luckily, there were no casualties. Based on reports, these animals appeared to be attacking a specific yellow bus called Oppa-City Tour Bus. Eyewitnesses lost track of the bus once they entered a poorly-maintained tunnel that was filled with overgrown plants. Korea’s ministry of transportation was under fire for not maintaining the highway tunnel properly, as the wild plants were the main cause of the traffic delay. The bus in question was then found empty and abandoned, near Incheon International Airport._

__

__

_This bizarre case seemed to encourage the netizens to come up with many theories and speculations, especially the eyewitnesses of the incident._

The news anchor was replaced by an Asian woman in her late 50s. She had curly black hair, gold-coloured glasses, and an extremely loud voice.

_“I was next to the bus when it happened. The birds looked so sinister… li-like they have human faces on it. They must be cursed birds! Those kids I saw inside the bus must’ve angered them somehow! We must pray and repent!"_

Next was a middle-aged man with a balding head. 

_"I was just driving when I suddenly heard a loud sound at the back of my lorry. I looked through my mirror and saw a boy being flung by those birds! You see this dent here? Those crazy birds threw him here! We must call animal control! That poor boy...I hope he’s okay."_

__

__

_These events were indeed puzzling and are still under investigation. We will keep you updated once the Korean authorities have finished their investigation. Our next news is happening right at home._

__

__

_The police have determined that the recent gruesome killings across America was indeed, done by a serial killer. This killer, also known as The Preserver, got his name from his modus operandi, which was to torture his victims and preserving their bodies, before displaying it in public. The authorities were still actively searching for any clues and information regarding The Preserver. If you have any information, please contact your local police to-_

Their bus then moved away, as the traffic light had finally turned green.

Seungcheol gazed blankly until the big screen disappeared from his view. He was grateful that The Mist was able to cover up their Harpy incident. But an uncomfortable feeling lingered in his mind.

That serial killer incident…Was it done by a human? With the Godslayer on the loose, the boundaries between Gods, monsters and mortals were disappearing. What if the serial killer was a monster that likes to torture and preserve human bodies? What if it was the Godslayer himself? Seungcheol shivered at the thoughts. He hoped that his group would never cross paths with that so-called serial killer. 

After that, his brain was finally too tired to deal with his numerous, anxious thoughts and Seungcheol drifted off into a restless slumber. About an hour later, he was jolted awake when he nearly fell off his seat. 

The smooth city roads had been replaced by uneven forest trails, making the bus shake and vibrate like a roller coaster. The Demigods passengers had mostly turned green in the face when the bus finally came to a stop. 

Nuxxies parked their bus and turned to face them, face pale but not from carsick. Seungcheol recognized the fear. “Baah! Guys, w-we’re here.” 

The satyr took a deep breath, then proceeded to explain their location. “W-we’re now behind...at the south side of the camp. You’ll have to trek a bit to reach the main camp. See that goat trail over there? Mr Nico was the one who found it. We...used that path to escape during the a-attack...” He trailed off uncomfortably.

Sungcheol offered his hand. “Thank you Nuxxies. I really appreciate all of your help.” 

The big satyr blushed but took the offered hand. “Well, I _really_ didn’t want to help you guys, but y’all forced me so...don’t worry about it.”

Once the rest thanked their guide, the Demigods and the satyr prepared to go on their separate ways.

Nuxxies offered them one last parting words, “May the Gods be with you...All of you are gonna need it,” before he kicked them out of the bus and drove away.

The meaning of those words quickly made itself known, the moment they stepped onto the forest trail.

It was the smell.

The pungent smell of blood, smoke and rotting flesh, surrounded them in an instant.

“Oh gods…” Jeonghan whispered beside him. “We’re not even near the camp yet and it's already this…bad?”

The group stood rooted on the spot, each consumed by their own thoughts. Luckily for them, they brought a reliable strategist. Wonwoo cleared his throat and took out his newly fixed glasses, along with the map of Camp Half Blood. Automatically, the group gathered around him for instructions.

“Woozi, I need you to scout. Check if there are any enemies and if there is, find out how many. You can use the passage here. Avoid any fighting. Keep yourself hidden from whatever that’s in the camp. Remember, don’t take any risk. I rather deal with less information than risking you dying.”

Woozi nodded and disappeared into the shadows. 

“DK, see if you can connect to any nymphs, dryads or other nature spirits. I want you to get more information about our enemies. Their species, numbers, weapons, locations...anything will do. And Vernon, can you go with DK and keep him safe?” 

Seungkwan raised his hands almost immediately. “Hyung, can I come along?

Joshua’s hand grabbed Seungkwan before he could move. “And do what? Shine like a flashlight for all the enemies to see? You’re staying right here.”

Vernon chuckled at the exchange. He then nodded to Wonwoo and together with DK, the duo disappeared into the forest. Next, Wonwoo whirled to their new teammates.

“Grover and Annabeth, please go to Mingyu. He made a new set of armor and weapons for both of you, so suit up for battle.” 

Two pairs of eyes looked at the son of Athena in surprise and disbelief, as if they weren’t expecting to be given decent armors and weapons. 

Seungcheol hid his smile. Wonwoo might look uncaring but in truth, he takes good care of his allies. As if to prove his point, Wonwoo flashed Grover and Annabeth a small smile, and shooed them over to Mingyu. Then like a machine, Wonwoo’s expression went back to being emotionless, as he turned to address the rest of them.

“For everyone else, I need you to secure this area. Check the perimeters. For all we know, the enemies may already know that we’re here, so proceed with caution. And go in pairs. I’ll go with Woozi to look for an escape route in case we get attacked.” 

Seungcheol was glad to be of use again. He helped Wonwoo organize and instruct the rest of their members. He paired the Apollo siblings together with the Aphrodite twins and made them scout nearby. He sent the Ares’ trio and Hoshi to scout further away, as they had more battle experiences. 

By ‘battle experience’, he meant that they’ve won more war games than the other campers. 

Reality and anxiety creeped up on him when he had run out of things to do. Seungcheol sighed heavily and covered his face in his hands. He wanted to curl up and pretend that he was back in Camp Banshin, sitting in front of Mingyu’s kitchen, eating ramyun with everyone. But no. He was miles away from Korea, trying to lead his ragtag team of Demigods to..what? Save the Gods? Save the World? Kill the Godslayer? _Impossible_. 

“We’re just too weak and too inexperienced.” He muttered softly. 

“Agreed~” said Jun, who had appeared suddenly and proceeded to sit down beside him. The son of Dionysus gave him a reassuring smile. “But we all need to get our experience somewhere. So don’t worry hyung, cheer up!”

Seungcheol smiled gratefully. He was truly blessed with such nice juniors. 

Then Jun brought out a small, black furry ball. “So hyung, can I keep him?” he asked hopefully.

Seungcheol stared at the black ball. To his surprise, the black ball suddenly split in the middle and _blinked_. The entire ball is an eye. It looked like a fuzzy, black marimo ball with one eye. 

It’s cute but that thing is a _monster_.

“Shit!” Seungcheol shouted as he unsheathed his sword and stabbed the ball-eye-thingy. His guess was proven correct when it turned to dust. 

“What- How- Jun! What monster was that?!” 

“I don’t know...I just found it on a tree when I was scouting.” Jun then pouted, “Do you really have to kill it hyung? Sure, there’s a lot of them around but the one I found was the cutest!” 

“Cutest- no wait, there is a lot of what-” Seungcheol struggled to precess Jun’s words. But then again it was Jun. The son of Dionysus was definitely one of the weirder kids in the camp. 

Seungcheol was about to enter the forest to warn his fellow campers when he bumped into Woozi. But before he could speak, the frowning son of Hades took out the same, black ball-monster thingy that Jun had shown him. 

“The enemies placed these black balls of nuisances all over the forest for surveillance. They’re supposed to report back but these things aren’t too bright. Still, I’m not taking any chances, so I was busy trying to get rid of it.” Woozi explained as he tiredly brushed the black dusts that clung onto his clothes. 

Wonwoo arrived shortly, also holding a frightened black marimo ball. “Looks like we’ve got to move. Woozi, they really do look like your relatives...Can you handle them?”

Woozi sighed. “Yeah...They were able to enter my shadows, so they might have been part of Hades or something. You guys go ahead first. I’ll clear them soon.”

“Can I at least keep one please? Please?” Jun piped in, pleading with his big hopeful eyes.

Uh oh. Seungcheol could see a throbbing vein on Wonwoo’s neck.

“Jun ah~” Wonwoo began, a clearly-forced smile was on his face. “Do you remember that time when we were at Insadong, and you picked up a baby chimera, wouldn’t leave it alone, and eventually lured the mother chimera, who proceeded to nearly kill us all?” 

Jun nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling with adoration. “The baby was so cute!”

Wonwoo’s left eye twitched dangerously. “Indeed, it was terribly cute, but did you remember how we ended up fighting a Chimera in the middle of Insadong? How Seungcheol-hyung broke his ribs? How I nearly lost my arm? How Hoshi destroyed the city’s water system? And how you were nearly _disfigured_? Remember when you _nearly lost your face_ , because you thought a monster was _cute_?”

Jun covered his face in agony. “Nooooo~ Don’t remind me! Uhhh, fine! Just don’t kill them in front of me.” He then made grabby hands at the black marimo in Woozi’s hand. “Then can I just cuddle it one more time? One time will do!”

Unlike Wonwoo who was used to Mingyu’s deadly puppy eyes, Woozi had no such defenses. The shorter man scowled but eventually, he relented and threw the monster to an elated Jun.

Wonwoo simply stabbed the monster on his hand, immediately turning it into dusts. 

“5 seconds.” He warned Jun. 

Woozi looked rather delighted as he started the countdown. 

“Guys!!!” 

Suddenly, DK burst out from the forest and sprinted towards them, just as the black marimo crumbled into dust in Woozi’s hand.

Ignoring Jun’s sad face, the son of Demeter grabbed Seungcheol’s shoulders, eyes wild in panic.

“Mi-mi-mino-...Vernon he...M-minotaur! V-vernon...sorry...I- he- run...” DK was panting hard and not making any sense, but one word caught the ears of all the campers.

“A Minotaur? Where?!”

DK took a deep breath before continuing his report. “I don’t know! Just that Vernon’s watching it right now! He said I should run back and report.” 

Wonwoo pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Alright. Did you get any other information?”

“Yes. The nature spirits told me that there’s a...human in the camp. No, not the Godslayer, a female. And...oh, oh! There’s something about searching for Percy’s children..”

Annabeth immediately appeared next to DK, her eyes shone with terror and panic. “What...did you just say? Are they after my kids? I-I have to go to them now.” 

The daughter of Athena unsheathed her daggers with trembling hands and walked toward the camp. She stumbled on her second step. 

Wonwoo and Seungcheol caught her before she fell. “Annabeth, don’t be rash. It might be a trap, for all we know. Please calm down.” Wonwoo’s low voice was gentle and calm, as they supported her and waited for her shivers to subside. 

Seungcheol decided to focus on other things. “DK, you said a human was in the camp...Is she a hostage? Or...a survivor? Is she hurt?” 

DK shook his head glumly. “I’m sorry, but the trees didn’t say…They don’t know who she is.”

Grover eyes started to shine. A glimmer of hope. “Could it be a daughter of one of the Demigods? She could be a survivor! Annabeth and Percy had built a Demigod settlement near the camp and some of the Demigod’s children often stayed there. Those kids don’t have any powers so the nature spirits might regard them as humans.”

Wonwoo looked unconvinced. “Regardless of who it is, the chances of it being a trap is extremely high...” 

“But no matter what, we still have to check it out...right?” pleaded Grover, tears already forming in his eyes. “It might be one of the camper’s children...we can’t possibly leave them alone...please!”

“Okay, we’ll go.” Seungcheol concluded before Wonwoo could say anything else. 

He had no doubt that in Wonwoo’s rational mind, the son of Athena had already come up with a million reasons to abandon the survivor. And he would be right. But the _guilt_ of not saving a potential hostage would be _crushing_. Not only to Wonwoo, but to Sungcheol too. So, in order to protect their consciences, this was a risk Seungcheol was willing to take. Even if it meant walking into a trap.

Wonwoo turned his glare towards Seungcheol but he didn’t object the decision. Instead, he raised his eyebrows challengingly. “And what are you gonna do with the Minotaur?”

Oh crap. Seungcheol forgot the Minotaur. “Erm, well- I- uh…what do you think we should do Wonwoo?”

The son of Athena gave Seungcheol an unimpressed stare before exhaling a long-suffering sigh.

"I think Seungcheol-hyung should go with DK to find Vernon. If Vernon’s in trouble, then he would definitely need your strength. I’ll lead the rest to the camp. We’ll look for the human female.” 

Then he added. “And Minghao isn't back yet. If you see any of the children of Ares plus Hoshi, send them our way. Do _NOT_ let Hoshi go with you. He won’t be able to shut up and that might agitate the Minotaur even more.”

The son of Zeus flashed him a grateful smile, which Wonwoo returned. But as Wonwoo walked past him, Seungcheol heard him mumbling to himself, “Please let it _not_ be a trap...please keep everyone safe…please let us meet again...” 

Wonwoo’s rare moment of unease only added to Seungcheol’s growing list of anxieties. He vowed to quickly deal with the Minotaur and head over to the camp _ASAP_. 

With a heavy heart, Seungcheol left with DK. Once in a while, the son of Demeter would touch a tree, close his eyes and nod to… _something_. A dryad? A tree spirit? A tree ghost? Seungcheol didn’t know and didn’t want to ask. They moved silently according to… _something’s_ directions.

Soon, they heard the unmistakable growl of the Minotaur from a distance. Seungcheol immediately crouched down, while pushing DK to get behind him. The pair strained their ears, trying to pick up more sounds from the monster, but after that one growl, the Minotaur was mockingly quiet. 

In fact, they didn’t hear any other sound at all. The area where they were hiding had become unnaturally silent. With a start, Seungcheol realized that he could no longer hear insects buzzing or birds chirping in the distance. The trees and the leaves stood still as though it was holding their breath.

Suddenly, a soft growl broke the silence. It sounded far too close than Seungcheol expected or preferred.

“I...smell...demigod…” 

Only one word perfectly describes their situation right now, and Seungcheol said it softly but with much feelings. 

“...Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes...More battles ahead!  
> A bit of SoonHoon ship here & there along the way ^^  
> The posts r catching up to our writing soon DX We'll do our best to edit & write faster!  
> If you hv any questions, feel free to ask us! Comments & Kudos r much appreciated. Thank You~


	10. Ch 9 -  I don’t like that face (Mingyu)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah...Finally a meanie moment. (Apologies Meanie trash passhing by)
> 
> If you guys noticed, each member's POV tends to focus on specific things or situation.  
> And Mingyu POV focus heavily on Wonwoo... 
> 
> Can you guys guess what each member's POV would focus on?

Wonwoo always  wore this  _ I-am-ice-and-nothing-can-hurt-me,  _ princely look on him, but deep inside, he’s full of sugar, spice and everything nice.

...It's  _ true _ . 

Alright, Mingyu might be biased but his hyung is a really warm person! 

Sure, he had made super-cold decisions that caused... _ misunderstandings _ with other campers before, but those decisions were really made based on what's best for everyone! Furthermore, deciding things didn’t mean that Wonwoo  _ enjoyed _ those decisions. That was precisely why their group believed in him. They trusted Wonwoo  to make the  _ right _ decisions.

But that trust is such a heavy  _ burden _ . 

Mingyu knew because he saw it. Saw how those very decisions hurt Wonwoo. Haunted him even. He saw him regretting his decisions. Saw him broke down when he thought no one was around.  Saw exactly how vulnerable Wonwoo is.

So Mingyu wanted to share his burden and his pain. When the “trusts” became too heavy, he wanted to be there to support him. 

It took him three long years to break down Wonwoo’s guard, and another two years to finally make him his. He finally got Wonwoo to let his down guard and relax whenever they’re together.

“Wonwoo ah~” Mingyu called out sweetly. 

The son of Athena looked up from the map  he had been studying , and flashed him a sweet smile. Mingyu walked behind his boyfriend and started massaging his tense shoulders. 

Wonwoo groaned as his shoulders started to relax. “You’re always so good with your hands.”

The taller boy grinned and leaned close to whisper. “I’m the leader of Cabin 9, of course I’m good with them. You know exactly how  _ skillful  _ my hands are.”

The resulting shiver that ran down his boyfriend’s body, made a wolfish grin appear on Mingyu’s face. His hyung is so adorable. He’s so precious that Mingyu almost wished that he could lock Wonwoo up and kept him all to himself. Of course he knew that would be impossible, so for now...maybe just a choker with his initials. He smiled sweetly at the older boy.

From the corner of his eyes, Mingyu saw  that the rest of the campers were already back from scouting their perimeters. Most of them avoided looking at them though, except for  Jeonghan and Joshua who were blatantly staring at them and smiling like proud parents. He vaguely wondered why. 

Wonwoo put on his strategist, serious face  and motioned for the rest to gather.

“As you all know,  we’ll be doing a rescue mission. Rescuing the human hostage in Camp Half-Blood is most likely- actually, I’m pretty sure it's a trap.  But since we’re  _ apparently willing _ to take the risks, I’ll do my best to bring us back alive ...in one whole piece...I hope. As you can see, we are a little lacking in fighting power here.” 

Wonwoo’s eyes glanced subtly to Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Dino, Yuna, Seungkwan and Qi Tong. Mingyu could almost hear Wonwoo’s silent evaluation. Yeah, these members could certainly defend themselves but they’re not exactly trained warriors.

His boyfriend gave a tired exhale, before he beamed a very bright, but also very fake smile at the whole group. “Let’s go with more hiding and crawling, and do less dicing and slashing.” 

Wonwoo pointed to Dino and Yuna. “Scout Camp Half-Blood. Avoid combat at all costs. If you found Hoshi or any child of Ares, then brief them and lead them to the bad guys.  If bad guys spot you,  _ run _ . Don’t try to be a hero and get yourself killed. Be a coward first and live, am I clear Dino?” 

The son of Hermes frowned but he nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Wonwoo then turned towards him. “Once we know how many enemies are present, and where the hostage is,  Jeonghan-hyung, Shua-hyung and Mingyu will distract our enemies. Burn the entire forest for all I care, just grab their attention. The rest then will move in to rescue. Once the hostage is secured,  _ retreat back here _ . That’s the basic plan. Any objections? Do you all know your roles?”

Of course none disagreed with Wonwoo. The Demigods and one satyr all nodded in agreement and so Wonwoo ended the briefing. As swift as the wind, Dino and Yuna rushed off to scout, both excited over their first ‘proper’ mission. Mingyu hoped that they both wouldn't screw up and die. After all, he had just figured out how to add the mechanical wings to their new Converse sneakers. It would be devastating if the owners of such cool shoes perished before they could even wear it.

They waited for a few more minutes to let their main scouts move on ahead,  before Wonwoo finally allowed for them to start.  The team entered the forest once again and did their best to move stealthily . Jun was quiet, but he was moving exaggeratedly on his own, rolling around from one bush to another bush as if he was acting in a Chinese action movie.  Mingyu held his laughter, while Wonwoo held his temper.

Their amusement ended however,  when a sudden shadow shot past their group. Everyone froze in place.  They held their breath as a monster walked into a clearing, with its’ back facing towards them.

Mingyu couldn’t help but to tilt his head in confusion . The monster looked really,  _ really _ peculiar. It was almost half the size of a sedan car. Approximately 2 meters long, covered in thick, dark grey furs.  The monster was quadrupedal, but if it stood on its hind legs, it would’ve reached just a little above his height. The monster’s body looked like a mix between a bear and a wolf, but it was the head that puzzled Mingyu.

From behind, the head looked like a construction flaw, as the monster’s tiny head did not match it’s big body. Actually, from this distance and angle,  the size of its head looked suspiciously like a...human’s. 

As if it heard his thoughts, the monster turned around to face them, and Mingyu heard the collective sharp intake of breath from his fellow Demigods. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, he was right. The head that sat on the monster’s wide shoulders’ belonged to a human. A  _ female _ human head.

A hand shot out from behind and gripped Wonwoo’s delicate wrist. Mingyu almost incinerated it on instinct, but he stopped when he saw that it was Annabeth’s. She and Grover both looked pale and a little green. 

“C-Clarisse...h-h-her...h-h-head-d...”

Well shit.

A female  _ demigod‘s _ head.

Clarisse La Rue’s head sat silently above the monster’s shoulders.  Her dead, unblinking eyes, forever stared at emptiness, while her mouth was twisted open, frozen in a silent scream. Part of her jaw was  ripped open, with worms already nesting around the open wound . Grotesque didn’t even begin to describe it. 

“Oh gods….w-why...C-Clarisse…” Annabeth whispered brokenly.

The daughter of Athena finally released Wonwoo’s wrist and clutched her own dagger instead. Mingyu made a mental note to warn Annabeth about Wonwoo’s rather delicate constitution. Look, his wrist was already bruising! But seeing her watery, distressed eyes, Mingyu decided to let it slide for now. Clarisse’s head had clearly unsettled all of them. 

Wonwoo then signaled for  Joshua and him to circle around the monster.  Mingyu practically crawled his way to position himself correctly. At Wonwoo’s nod , he and  Joshua dashed out from their hiding places. 

Mingyu brought out his homemade, triangular celestial bronze shield, to parry the monster’s attacks, giving Joshua time to enter the monster’s blindspot. The son of Aphrodite was about to deliver the killing blow, when Clarisse’s head suddenly cried out. “Chris….Chris…” 

The human voice shocked everyone, including  Joshua who promptly froze, his sword hanging unsure in midair.

"Fuck you!" Annabeth hissed as she dashed out and stabbed the monster,  twisting her brand new daggers deep inside, to ensure that it would die in the most agonizing way. 

The monster gave one last moan before turning to dust, leaving only Clarisse’s head rolling on the ground. 

“Don’t let it confuse you.” She said bitterly, with tears streaming down her angry face.

Their journey after that was a solemn one. None wanted to talk about the weird monster or about Clarisse’s head, which they left buried underneath a nearby pine tree. Mingyu found himself drifting closer and closer to Wonwoo,  ready to use his body as a shield, just in case other monsters decided to attack.  He would protect his boyfriend at all costs. He would even be willing to give his head to that strange monster, if it would save Wonwoo.

A few feet in front of them, Grover suddenly raised his hand to stop their march.

“We’re reaching the Camp soon,  but we’ll first pass through the place where me and the Council of Cloven Elders usually meet. Baah~ be very careful, s-something’s wrong.... ” 

Even without that warning, everyone knew something was not right. The putrid smell of blood and rotting flesh got stronger and stronger as they marched closer and closer to their destination.

Yes. Mingyu knew that something was _wrong_. But he wasn’t prepared to see exactly _how_ _wrong_ that something was.

“Oh god…” Annabeth covered her mouth as  more tears spilled from her horrified grey eyes. Next to her, Grover simply collapsed to the ground at the sight that greeted them. 

Corpses .

_ Mountains _ of corpses.

The dead bodies of satyrs and Half-Blood campers, were all piled up and tied to various wooden planks, to form one big, twisted, bloody gate. 

The corpses were all of different ages and sizes. Kids, middle-aged, teens, satyrs, dryads, orange shirts and some purple shirts...all dead and rotting.  Some of the corpses had decayed, making it impossible to identify them.  Some had missing limbs. Some still had their weapons on them. Some were burnt so completely, leaving only their black charred bodies behind. 

It was like  _ ‘The Gates of Hell’,  _ sculptured by Auguste Rodin. Only less artistic, less divine and way, way,  _ way _ more realistic. Mingyu swallowed back the bile that was rising in his throat and tried to forget the tormented expression etched on some of the corpses’ faces.

The group could only gazed in fascinated horror  as they quietly took in the hideous, monstrous creation. It was clear that nobody wanted to approach it, let alone walk through it.  Since walking through it might just curse them, the group decided to walk around it instead.

Mingyu nearly screamed when Dino and Yuna jumped down from a nearby tree and landed in front of him. Even Wonwoo had taken out his daggers.  Actually, most of them had been startled enough to whip out their weapons, before relaxing when they saw who it was.

“Wonwoo-hyung…we’ve been waiting for you…” Dino whispered brokenly. Both of their scouts looked drained and pale. Their eyes were dilated from fear, disgust, horror ...and many other unpleasant emotions that Mingyu could relate to. 

Dino delivered the bad news . “There’s… _ more _ . Ahead.”

Yuna nodded once, before she turned around and threw up next to a tree. “Dino...I wanna go back…”

The son of Hermes rubbed her back gently as she heaved . “It’s okay...you’re okay…stop puking already...you trying to drown our enemies with your vomit? I don’t think it’ll be very effective. ”

The daughter of Hermes glared back. “You puked the moment you saw that,” She pointed to the corpse gate, “if we’re drowning our enemies in vomit, then you’ve already done your part!”

Mingyu forcefully cleared his throat to break up the puking conversation. 

He had been trying to keep his own nausea in check, ever since he saw that morbid corpse gate, and this conversation was definitely  _ not _ helping his stomach. But if Mingyu’s stomach did decide to expel its contents out, he would certainly  aimed it at these two.

“Then should we leave you here, so both of you can continue puking in peace?”  Jeonghan ’s tone was teasing ,  but his eyes were serious . 

Dino and Yuna gulped and immediately shook their heads. “We’re good!”

Their little exchange managed to lift the heavy, gloomy atmosphere that had fallen over their group.  However,  the same could not be said for Wonwoo. Mingyu took note of Wonwoo’s rigid shoulders  and frozen poker face.  It seemed as if he was forcing himself to appear strong for the sake of the group again.

The son of Athena squared his shoulders and faced the scouts . “Yuna, besides more...casualties...is there anything else ahead that we’ll need to be wary of?” 

“Well,  there’s those scary, weird, headless monsters...maybe around 7-10 of them? They were roaming around the camp, while  the human was just...sitting with...a-a body on her la- Urg-" Yuna whirled around and threw up again. 

Dino came to help his half-sister again and Mingyu felt a pang of sympathy. This was their first mission and already, they had to face so many deaths. Dino might appear fine, but from his shifty, sometimes-vacant, brown eyes, it was clear that he was also traumatised by this. 

“Hyung, that human girl...she doesn’t look like a hostage. She looks...like...like...she  _ belonged _ there.” Dino frowned, as he struggled to describe what exactly he saw there.

“...we’ll proceed as though the human is an enemy then.” Wonwoo ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “ So much for rescue...Fine. Dino and Yuna, go find our Ares’ trio and Hoshi. Tell them to come to the main camp with guns blazing.”

Hovering close behind Wonwoo, Mingyu silently agreed. Since rescue is no longer necessary, their next plan of action will be a surprise ambush, with the sole intention of killing anything and everything that moves.  Coincidentally, that is precisely  what Minghao is extremely good at. A massacre.  Mingyu sometimes wondered why he’s still friends with that guy. 

“Mingyu, Grover and Annabeth, once you see the children of Ares attacking, join them. Seungkwan and Qi Tong, Use your archery skills to protect the fighting team, DK and I would protect you.” Wonwoo turned to Jeonghan, “Hyung, I leave Shua-hyung and Jun to you. Whenever you see an opening, go ahead and do what you do best.”

Which means create chaos whenever you see fit and the team would adapt accordingly. Well if Wonwoo wants chaos,  he has asked the correct person. MIngyu recalled the numerous fights, confusions and betrayals that Jeonghan and his devious brain had caused, back in their camp.  Not only during war games, this sly hyung also creates pandemoniums even  _ after  _ the games ended .  Not even Wonwoo knows the extent of Jeonghan’s trickery. Maybe Aphrodite had claimed the wrong child. Mingyu was about 70% sure that this devious hyung was Hermes’ offspring instead.

His thoughts were cut off by Wonwoo’s reminder. “Everyone, remember that anything can happen once we reach the camp. So please listen to my instructions closely.”

Wonwoo then beckoned them to continue their march forward. 

At a glance, the son of Athena looked fine, if not a little tense, but Mingyu’s keen eyes had picked up the tiny shivers that happened more frequently now. When Wonwoo rubbed his hands together,  Mingyu stopped their descent into Wonwoo’s pockets and wrapped his hands around it instead. His chest met with Wonwoo’s back, as he pulled the shorter man into his embrace, engulfing him in a sudden back hug. The smaller, colder physique tensed for a second, before it went pliant and relaxed against his warm body.

“Don’t overwork yourself Wonu-hyung~ You know that your body is not as strong as the others. Look, you’re shivering and cold, yet you are not saying anything.”  Mingyu rested his chin on the thin shoulders. “You’re lucky that I’m also willing to be your personal heat pack.”

“...why don’t you just make me an armour that could keep me warm?”

“Don’t want to.” Mingyu  replied immediately. “If I do, then you won’t let me do this during missions anymore. ” He hugged him even tighter,  inhaling the now-familiar musty scent of leather books, rainfall and mint, that was just so Wonwoo.

His hyung then started wriggling. “Alright, be serious. Stop with the flirting.” 

Oh, Wonwoo’s ears had turned bright red from embarrassment. Adorable, but it meant that he really had to let go now. With clear reluctance, Mingyu slowly released his hold.

“You’re too skinny hyung. Once we get back, I’m gonna stuff you with food and drag you to the forge. You need to exercise more, to keep your body healthy and strong.”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, but his smile was fond. Mingyu counted that as a win. He then proceeded to stick to the older boy like glue. How else was he supposed to protect Wonwoo if he was too far away from him?

Their silent trek finally came to an end when they spotted more...casualties.  As per what Dino and Yuna said, what was waiting for them , was just as horrendous as the corpse gate. 

It was as if they had entered some sort of sick, twisted, corpse  _ museum _ .

Each body was displayed grotesquely like an artwork.  Some were displayed alone. Others had mismatched limbs or extra limbs on them. The rest were in twos, threes or in groups.  Strangely enough, the condition of these corpses were...good.  None of these corpses were rotting or burned or had maggots, unlike the earlier bodies at the corpse gate. Even the severed limbs were cut cleanly and carefully. Whoever did this...probably had the proper tools, skills and  _ patience _ to create this...display.

Grover started whimpering as they silently walked past each corpse.  His voice was filled with raw emotions as he brokenly mumbled the names of his dear dead friends. “Chris…J-Jake...Connor? Travis?...N-no Katie...Cecil...Lou Ellen...Oh no, Rachel no-” 

Annabeth choked out a sob as they walked past each body. “It’s all my fault...we shouldn’t have built a settlement so close to Camp Half-Blood! I-it’s all my fault that they’re dead...After graduation, we should’ve dispersed...Maybe if we had lived far apart, n-none of this would’ve happened...”

Jun placed a comforting hand on her back, but none of them had any words of comfort for the grieving pair. There were no words or reason that one could give, for all the sick displays that they were seeing. Clearly, these were all done on purpose...were done for _entertainment_. Camp Banshin campers could only offer silent support to the living, and silent prayers to the dead.

It was painfully clear that each body was an acquaintance, a friend or a family to Annabeth and Grover. Mingyu didn’t even want to imagine how it would feel if it happened to him. He knew that Annabeth and Grover would want to take down each body and bury it, but they currently have neither the time nor the luxury to do so. 

Because they’ve finally reached the entrance to Camp Half-Blood.

The camp’s welcoming arch was still standing, covered in blood splatters, cracks and claw marks. On its’ two greek pillars,  children of various ages were hung and displayed, as if they were welcoming them to the camp.  Beyond the bloodied arch, there were no signs of threat nor ambush. As far as Mingyu can see, the camp was dark and silent as a grave.

Annabeth’s sob shattered the silence.

“Why are Clarisse and Chris’ children here? They were at a boarding school… Oh god t-those are Travis and Katies’ twins...Thats- but Lou’s kids lived in Canada...H-how? They shouldn’t be here...all of them weren’t staying near the camp. They shouldn’t be involved!”  Her knees buckled and Grover quickly stepped forwards to help. “Grover...if they are here, then what about  _ my _ children? Are they…But Dk said that they’re still searching...but what if…” 

She trailed off quietly, but her watery grey eyes were desperately darting around, as if checking and making sure that her children were really not among the dead. Her usually composed face now looked wild, filled with anger, horror and doubt.  It was clear that she was desperately battling her irrational fear with her logical brain. But sadly, it was a losing battle. In the end, even the smartest thinker was unable to out think their emotions. 

Jeonghan and Joshua came to her rescue. Jeonghan whispered sweet comforting words to her and Joshua used his powers to calm her down, all while Grover hovered around her like a worried mother. Slowly Annabeth’s breath started to even out and when her eyes opened, she was back to the rational Annabeth.

“Hello.” A soft, rather sensual voice, called out. 

Mingyu had never seen his team shift into a defensive formation as quickly as they did then.

A lone woman stood in the middle of the camp’s clearing. Even from the distance, it was clear that she was beautiful. Her small face was framed by wavy, golden hair that tumbled gracefully over her shoulders and down to her chest. Though hidden by the lab coat and a red dress, her body was thin and lean, almost like a model. She looked like she should have been standing in a branded cosmetics showroom, not a desolated, plundered camp like this.

She remained unmoving, as her bright, emerald green eyes studied them with great curiosity.  When she found Annabeth, her red tinted lips formed a happy smile . 

“I have been waiting for so long. I’m glad you finally came.” 

She motioned Annabeth to follow her, and promptly ignored everyone else. With an elegant sway on her hips, the mysterious blonde turned and walked away,  leaving them with more questions than answers.

Annabeth immediately moved to follow. Her sword and  daggers were already out, as she prepared for the possibility of an ambush .  But nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her. 

At the Camps’ amphitheatre, a row of God statues had been placed in the middle. What’s abnormal was the fact that the statue heads had all been replaced with the well-preserved,  _ severed heads _ of the corresponding cabin leaders. However, the most gruesome sight that greeted them was the hanging body of a centaur. He was hanged or pinned to a board , with his body sliced open in the middle, displaying his inside for everyone to see. 

“Mr. Chiron.”  Grover’s high pitched whimper, echoed hollowly across the darkened camp.

Every Demigod knew who Chiron was. They also knew that he was supposed to be  _ Immortal _ . Nobody dared to ask how such a great man ended up like this. This was a clear display of the Godslayer’s strength.

“Ah...I hope you don’t mind the little decorations.” The lady said lightly, as if she was talking about her housing decor instead of corpses. She then moved to sit on a bench in the middle of the Amphitheatre, and that was when they all saw it. 

A preserved corpse, sitting still on the bench. The body was wearing the camp’s iconic orange t-shirt, underneath a plain, ocean-blue flannel. On his head was a mop of disheveled, jet black hair with few greying strands that was swept to one side, as if he just gotten a walk down the beach. If the corpse could open his eyes, Mingyu had no doubt that he'd be looking at sea-green eyes.

“Percy…” Annabeth choked out. Her voice trembled with grief and longing.

Wonwoo kept a strong hand on her shoulders, to offer his support and to keep her calm.  Though grieving, his face was a mask of ice. The son of Athena kept peering over to the forest, as though he was looking for  something . 

A movement from the corner of his eyes caught his attention and with a start, Mingyu realized that they were now surrounded.  The weird headless monsters were coming out from the broken cabins. Their tail swished with excitement and even without a head, Mingyu could somehow tell that these monsters were choosing which head they wanted to claim. Like what one of them did with Clarisse La Rue’s head.

Even with the monsters’ appearance, the blonde lady looked absolutely at ease . She caressed Percy’s face tenderly, her long red fingernails travelled across his handsome, relaxed face. Indeed, if one had not heard the news, they would have thought Percy was only sleeping, not dead. 

“Even at age 40, he still looks so  _ good _ ...it’s amazing.” The lady gave Percy a loving look,  that Mingyu found downright disturbing. “He’s a masterpiece...really.” 

Annabeth hissed like a feral cat. “Stop playing with my husband’s body!” 

The crazy lady looked up in confusion.  “Playing? No, I’m  _ admiring _ my collection.” She hugged Percy’s body possessively. “ _ He _ gave him to me, so he is mine now. Look, I even kept his body pristine!” 

“You piece of shit-” Annabeth growled, sounding nothing like a child of Athena. With her face twisted in anger and eyes that screamed murder, she looked more like an Ares’ incarnate, ready to snap that lady’s neck using her bare hands alone.

“Who is  _ ‘he’ _ ?” Wonwoo cut in, as he squeezed Annabeth’s shoulder and moved forward, effectively using his lanky body to block the lady’s view of Annabeth. 

A small frown appeared on the blonde lady’s otherwise flawless face. “He never gave me his name...I think you call him...Godslayer?” 

“So are you telling me that you, a _human_ , did all this?” Wonwoo asked, his voice was both cold and nonchalant.

“What? What a horrible thing to say! I didn’t massacre this camp, that's’ not my style.” The lady pouted a bit. ”The Godslayer did all this. I was just told to wait for you. But I got a little bored, so I decorated the place. Nothing much really.” she shrugged. 

Wonwoo sneered as he looked at her with judgemental eyes. “Oh really? I find it hard to believe that someone like the Godslayer would  _ know _ you, much less work  _ with _ you.” 

Her beautiful calm face  morphed into pure anger . “How dare you judge me?! He was the one that came to me! I joined them becau-”  She cut herself off and blinked slowly in realization .  “Did you just...make me  _ give _ you information?”

Before Wonwoo could reply, the crazy lady laughed  and clapped her hands in delight. She then leaned back on Percy’s body and motioned with her hand. Almost immediately, the headless monsters started closing in on them. 

“Everyone, don’t move yet...” Wonwoo whispered urgently, as his steely grey eyes darted from the approaching monsters, to the treeline that leads to the forest. Mingyu followed his line of sight and...did that bush just _move_? A second later, his eyes caught the familiar glint of celestial bronze among the bushes. Luckily, Wonwoo seemed to see it as well. “Now!” 

All hell broke loose, when Minghao and Hoshi suddenly flew out of the forest and slashed the closest creatures to them, turning it to dust immediately.  The headless creatures roared in anger and rushed forward to attack them. More and more monsters were coming out from the cabins.  Wait...didn't Dino and Yuna say that there were only like 7-10 creatures?

“Dino! Don’t you know how to count?!”  Seungkwan shouted as he narrowly avoided a fatal blow to his neck. “There’s like...a 100 monsters here!”

“Sorry, we didn’t count those inside the cabins.” Dino said sheepishly as he and Yuna hopped out from the forest to join the fight. 

“How can these headless dogs even  _ see _ me?! They are headless!” Jeonghan shouted as he ran around, expertly avoiding the said headless creatures.

“Maybe they can smell you?”  suggested Joshua calmly, as if he was drinking tea, rather than dodging weird monsters alongside his brother.    
  


“BUT THEY ARE  _ HEADLESS _ !” 

Jun had already climbed up a tree and was creating vines to hinder the headless dogs movement, but with one swipe of their  barbed tail , his vines broke.

Dino and Yuna were  busy tag-teaming their opponents. With their exceptional teamwork and speed, the two were taking down the headless dogs by  using the monsters’  own sharp claws and fangs to wound their own kind. 

The tree that Jun was perched on swayed, revealing Seungkwan and Qi Tong, who had decided to join the son of Dionysus’ long-distance fight club. A rain of arrows soon supported their fight.

Annabeth was l ike a one-man army. Err, one- _ lady _ army. She was killing the monsters with such ferocity and efficiency, that the monsters seemed reluctant to approach her. In fact, Mingyu saw one of the headless dogs clearly avoided Annabeth and went straight to his Wonwoo instead. Such disrespect!

Lighting up his hands on fire, Mingyu intercepted the monster before it met its target. He grabbed the headless dog by its forearm and increased the intensity of his fire. It left his hand a little pink and raw, but it did turn the monster into ashes. With his trusty shield on one hand and his fire on the other, Mingyu glared straight at the remaining creatures’ eyes... which they do not have. Still, the challenge was clear from his stance. They must get through him first, before they can get to Wonwoo.

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed past them  and landed in the middle of the battlefield. A loud, yet strangely familiar scream was heard.

All the headless dogs fell back and stood in a straight line.  Their deadly sharp tails wagged happily from side to side, as if congratulating the bigger monster. 

Minghao's face paled as he saw the newly joined creature. It was a bigger headless dog  that was the size of a car, but the problem wasn’t its size. It was the  _ head _ that the creature had used as it’s replacement. 

“NARI!!!”  Minghao’s scream alerted everyone at once. 

As if taunting them, the creature threw a lifeless body out with its tail.  Mingyu watched with horror, as Minnie fell to the ground with a hard thud.  The place where her right knee was supposed to be, was now a gnawed mess of bones, sinews and blood. She looked pale enough and still enough to be a corpse.

Seungkwan immediately jumped down, Qi Tong right behind him. Without needing to be told, the team formed a protective barrier for their healers.

“Oh My- Thank the Gods! She’s alive!” Seungkwan exclaimed after a minute of checkup. 

The team all heaved a sigh of relief...except for one person. Minghao didn’t make any indication that he had heard Seungkwan’s announcement. His attention was solely focused on the big monster, who had hurt and killed his sisters. 

The monster with Na Ri’s head turned to face the angry son of Ares. Suddenly, Na ri’s mouth fell open. “Minnie...run...run to...brother…”

Mingyu saw the exact moment Minghao  _ snapped _ . 

Minghao ran forward so quickly,  that it seemed as if he had teleported right above the big monster . A red aura engulfed his entire body, along with his  weapons, making the greek engraving in his sword glowed ominously red. The big monster managed to parry the first downward slash but the next few attacks were blocked by the smaller monsters, who had surged towards Minghao.

The increase in monsters didn’t bother the son of Ares at all. Different weapons seemed to materialize in his hands, as he kept on hacking and slashing the monsters. Minghao used his arsenal of weapons with such grace and ease, that it seemed as if he was dancing. He looked like a red flower of death, floating and blooming in the battlefield.

Mingyu was fascinated. He had never seen the Blessing of Ares in flesh before. But his admiration was broken by Wonwoo’s cold shout.

“ _ Focus _ ! Use the path Minghao made and attack the rest! Take out their commander!”

They launched an all out attack, with the crazy lady as their main target. Mingyu did his best to fight near Wonwoo,  but as the battle went on, he soon lost track of his hyung. What he did saw, was glimpses of his other teammates. 

He saw how Seungkwan and Qi Tong took turns in fighting and healing Minnie. Saw how Dino and Yuna were more focused on defending the healers than actually killing the monsters. Saw Jeonghan and Annabeth’s deadly dagger combination. Saw Grover and Jun using vines to trap and immobilize the injured monsters. Mingyu felt, more than saw,  Joshua amplifying the feeling of courage and anger to all of them, keeping their adrenaline pumping to a max level. 

As he fought with his fire, shield and hammers, he thought that they were doing pretty well.   
  


Then he saw Wonwoo. His beautiful, fearless hyung was like an ice fairy, as he bypassed all the headless creatures and rushed toward the blonde crazy lady,  who had been leisurely watching the fight all this time.

MIngyu felt all of his goosebumps rise. Something was  _ wrong _ .

He did not like the  look  on that lady’s face. Her emerald eyes twinkled with amusement and excitement as she stared at Wonwoo. Somehow, her look reminded Mingyu of a child, staring at an object, a toy or a new fascination for her to dissect and play. He didn’t like it.  It didn’t matter if she was a human or a non-fighter. Mingyu’s instincts screamed that she was a  _ danger _ to Wonwoo. 

A loud, piercing roar broke Mingyu’s distressed train of thought. The battle paused for a second as demigods, monsters, crazy ladies, all looked towards the newcomer. 

A minotaur had appeared out of the forest and was now rushing head first towards Wonwoo.

Several arrows were stuck on the Minotaurs’ back, while the remains of roots and leaves were dangling uselessly from its hooves and wrists. Another depressing thought entered MIngyu’s mind.  Was Seuncheol, Dk and Vernon dead? Was that why the Minotaur’s here? Because it had finished dealing with those three? 

Before he could even begin grieving for his dead friends, said dead friends came running out of the forest, looking pissed off but very much alive.

“YAH! You stupid Minotaur, come back here and  _ fight me _ !” screamed Seungcheol. Even Vernon looked annoyed at the Man-Bull, while DK... well, DK looked like a lost boy following the crowd, but Mingyu was glad to see all of them.

The Minotaur ignored its pursuers and continued its rampage towards Wonwoo. Mingyu ran with all his might but he couldn’t outrun a bull.  But just as it was about to slam into Wonwoo, the son of Athena flicked his hand and Woozi flew out from his shadow.

With a boost from Wonwoo, the son of Hades flipped overhead and landed onto the monster’s back. Rope-like shadows appeared and immediately wrapped itself around the Minotaur’s head like a rein. With a yell, Woozi steered the Minotaur straight towards the bench where the crazy lady was seated. 

Unfortunately, the lady jumped off the bench  and she managed to avoid the charging bull. Even more unfortunately,  her eyes never left Wonwoo, even when he placed his dagger against her neck.  In fact, she seemed really...pleased? The crazy lady gave Wonwoo a sultry smile, before she pulled him close and whispered something to him.  And then, she did something that made her officially the first person Mingyu wanted to  _ kill _ .

Completely ignoring the slice on her neck from Wonwoo’s dagger, the lady pushed herself up even more and kissed Wonwoo square on his lips. 

Fire ignited around Mingyu and incinerated three headless dogs on the spot. He had no time for these monsters, he needed to get to Wonwoo’s side as quickly as possible.

Sadly, he wasn’t the only one who thought of that. The Minotaur had thrown Woozi off his back, and had finally reached its target. With the back of its giant hand, the Minotaur swatted Wonwoo away from the psycho lady, like an annoying fly. The son of Athena flew and crashed into a nearby cabin, where he remained unmoving.

At once, the fire around him went out. Mingyu’s need for murder was immediately replaced by his worry. “Wonwoo!”

Once Wonwoo was removed, the Minotaur threw the lady over it’s shoulders and started running away from the battlefield. But still, the psycho lady called out to Wonwoo. “Pretty thing! Remember, my name is Ava Pierce!” 

Mingyu cradled his hyung’s unconscious body protectively and showed her a middle finger. Somehow, that only made her eyes and smile widen in excitement.  She stared hungrily at Wonwoo’s fallen body and Mingyu really, really,  _ really _ hated that look on her face. The psycho lady reached out her hand,  as though she could grab his hyung from a far. And then the Minotaur jumped, and they vanished from sight.

Silence fell in Camp Half-Blood. 

The smaller headless dogs had been killed or rendered immobile. With the giant headless dogs dead, Minghao finally collapsed from grief. Qi Tong was running around, providing first aid healing to those injured, while Seungkwan was desperately pouring all his powers and his focus on healing Minnie. Annabeth and Grover could finally reunite with Percy, where they gently laid his body in a corner and grieve properly, after a long time. 

Mingyu  scooped Wonwoo gently, as if he was made of glass . He quickly moved towards Qi Tong, who had just finished examining Minghao. 

Jeonghan came over to check on him. “You okay?”

Mingyu shook his head mutely. He cradled Wonwoo a little closer.

He was such a failure for being unable to protect him. Wonwoo’s body was weaker than average. He gets cold easily, gets fatigued easily,  hell he even gets allergies easily . Now that he had his whole body slammed into a building… Mingyu paled in fear. Does Wonwoo have any broken bones? Oh gods, what if he was bleeding internally? 

“Erm, Mingyu-hyung…you need to put him down so I can check on him...” Qi Tong asked gently.  Mingyu knew that, but his body wasn’t listening to him. He felt his hands tighten on Wonwoo instead. 

“Oh for god’s sake! Put Wonwoo down so Qi Tong can see what’s wrong.”  Jeonghan chided exasperatedly. When Mingyu remained unmoving, his tone dipped dangerously . “Put him down before I  _ make _ you do things you don’t want to do.”

Mingyu  reluctantly relinquished his hold on his boyfriend. He couldn’t help but glare at Qi Tong a little. “Fine. But be careful with him. He’s fragile.”

The son of Aphrodite quickly pulled his junior away, to let the healer examine her patient in peace. “Don’t bully poor Qi Tong! She’s trying to help.” 

Seeing Mingyu’s pout, Jeonghan couldn’t help being sarcastic. “Geeze, why don’t you just stick a GPS on Wonwoo or something? Then you’ll never lose track of him right?  Gods, you’re so ridiculous sometimes Gyu.” 

Unbeknownst to the pretty hyung, the gears in Mingyu’s brain turned.

Yeah...Jeonghan-hyung was right. Mingyu should really work on a magical device that would inform him of Wonwoo's location at all times. Then he would never have to lose his precious hyung to anything or  _ anyone _ .  Like this, he can also  _ protect _ him better. 

Mingyu grinned, all sharp canine teeth and predatory eyes. 

He was almost done with the choker present...he could use that. All he needed now was the GPS and...Hermes’ location enchantment spell. Mingyu knew just the right person for the job.

“Thanks Jeonghan-hyung, that's an excellent idea. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find Dino.”

  
The son of Hephaestus skipped away, completely missing the stunned expression on his hyung’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww next up is DK POV! 
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos to encourage us!


	11. Ch 10 - Confused Confusion (DK)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A heavy dose of Meanie on the last chapter. Now, here comes a heavy dose of confusion courtesy of DK :D  
> Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Happy reading~

DK’s confused. Like super confused.

By no means was he a slow person, but everything was moving at such a rapid rate that his pacifist brain couldn't keep up. Though he has no clue as to what or why this happened, DK was at least thankful that he could still react based on instincts and on orders. Luckily, he responded well when people asked him to do something. 

Like when Vernon asked him to run back and get help. Sure, DK nearly had a heart attack when Vernon pushed him down and an actual, honest-to-god, _Minotaur_ passed them by. But despite his fear, he still managed to do what the hunter had asked of him. He ran back and got help. His tongue might be malfunctioning when he arrived, but at least he managed to pass some information to the team, and brought back Seungcheol with him. He was rather satisfied with the outcome.

Then his hyung suddenly crouched down and shoved him face-first, downwards to the ground. Ignoring the sense of deja vu, DK was about to protest when Seungcheol quickly signaled him to be silent and remained low. Well…like he said, he was good at following instructions, so DK did exactly as told.

That’s when they heard the gravelly, human-like growl. 

“I...smell...demigod…” 

This time, his hyung really did _shove_ him down. Seungcheol threw DK flat onto the forest floor and followed suit just as the poor, innocent tree behind them, exploded to pieces. 

Before he could get his bearings, DK felt himself being dragged off the ground and was _literally_ flung away, as Seungcheol used gusts of winds to lift him up and away from the melee battle. Sadly, he landed face first into a nearby mulberry bush. When DK finally rightened himself, arrows had joined the fight. He could see Vernon in a distance, dodging and running around the Minotaur to find an opening for his arrows. Not wanting to be left out, DK did his best to restrain the monster’s movement with whatever plants that were nearby.

In hindsight, he should’ve paid more attention to his own position. DK was so focused on growing and controlling the plants, that he didn’t realize that the battle had moved close towards him.

“DK-Yah, _move_!”

“Ack! S-sorry Seungcheol-hyung I-”

And then he was flung into the air again. Seriously, why does everyone keep shoving him away today?

Just like that, their battle with the Minotaur continued on. Whenever the monster came within 3 ft from him, Seungcheol would flung him somewhere far away and continued to fight. After what felt like an eternity of fighting, whacking and flying later, the Minotaur finally stopped. No, it didn’t stop from exhaustion. The Monster stopped, raised its’ big snout to sniff the air...and then bolted away at the speed of light. 

DK’s confused. Like super confused.

What, did the Minotaur have to go pee or something?

The three Demigods mutely shared a look of surprise and confusion, before Sungcheol and Vernon suddenly ran off after the Minotaur. Again, DK had no idea what was going on, but he did his best to follow his team. 

They ran and ran, until DK’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. Then before he could even rejoice for finally reaching their destination, they stumbled into another battle that was even more confusing and chaotic, than the one he was previously in.

Completely unbothered by the ongoing fights in Camp Half-Blood, the Minotaur ran through the battlefield, straight towards...Wonwoo? Why him? Oh, was it the red Jacket on Wonwoo’s waist? DK watched a show about Matadors and Bullfighting once. Maybe bulls just really hate red color? DK made a mental note not to wear anything red during this quest. 

Seungcheol’s annoyed scream snapped him back to present. “YAH! You stupid Minotaur, come back here and _fight me_!”

The Man-Bull ignored Seungcheol’s words, ignored Vernon’s arrows, ignored the battles around him, and continued barreling towards Wonwoo. It was no use. None of them could stop the rampaging Minotaur. Unless Wonwoo was secretly a Matador, DK could see no other way for the son of Athena to get away unscathed. So DK shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear to see his hyung get hurt in front of him! 

When he opened his eyes, Woozi was somehow on the minotaur’s head and thankfully, Wonwoo was still alive. Oh, there was a really pretty lady doctor standing next to the son of Athena. Why is Wonwoo threatening her with his dagger? Isn’t she just a human doctor? What did she do? No wait, why was she in Camp Half-Blood?

Then the girl kissed Wonwoo on his lips. 

DK’s eyeballs almost popped out of its sockets. Wasn’t Wonwoo... _boyfriends_ with Mingyu? 

A blast of hot air alerted DK of Mingyu’s presence. Yep, the son of Hephaestus was on fire... _again_. The air surrounding Mingyu was simmering from the intense heat and all five monsters that were nearby them, immediately turned to ashes. His friend looked downright murderous as he made his way towards his boyfriend, while still taking down as many monsters as he could. DK wisely stepped back. Mingyu might be a friend but he’s also a fire-hazard. And DK is certainly _not_ fireproof.

“DK! Up here!” 

DK looked around, before finally spotting Jun, sitting high up on a nearby pine tree. The son of Dionysus grinned and patted the empty spot next to him. Without further ado, DK made his way and swiftly climbed up the tree, using the vines provided by Jun. Once safe on the branches, DK saw that his gardening friend had been busy, tripping various monsters with his snaking and wriggling vines. Some vines also wrapped around the monsters that were injured, further weakening them and making them immobile.

That was the moment when DK finally registered, how truly weird these monsters are.

The monsters look like a wolf...or was it a bear...maybe a little of both? And if you ignore the blood splatters, they also had beautiful shiny fur that gleamed in the sun. They might have looked cuddly...if only they have a head. Where in the name of Hera were their _heads_? And if they have no head, how can they attack so fiercely and accurately? It doesn’t make any sense!

Judging by the growing headache in his head, DK concluded that he must have over-exceeded his brain thinking capacity for the day. So, he did what he usually does to calm himself. 

Help Jun grow plants.

DK summoned his powers and urged the vines to grow faster, stronger and fatter. Well, it needs to be fatter so that it’ll be more effective to restrain the monsters. 

“Pretty thing! Remember, my name is Ava Pierce!” 

Wait, What? Who? Where? When? Why? 

The pretty lady who just introduced herself...was being carried by the Minotaur, who was running away from the Camp. Some of the headless monsters also made their exit, as they followed behind the Man-Bull...and by ‘some’ DK meant around 40 of them. 

On his far left, one of the Camp’s cabins had caved in, and DK could just barely make out Wonwoo’s still form among the broken wood. Mingyu was already cradling Wonwoo’s head, while...Did he just flash a middle finger to the pretty lady?!

DK’s confused. Like super confused.

Was the pretty lady talking to Mingyu instead? But Mingyu couldn’t really be described as pretty...Mingyu works out, drinks Cola in one gulp and owns hundreds of muscle tees. He’s muscular, assertive and is basically a man’s man. So maybe she was referring to Wonwoo?

The son of Athena rarely smiles, but the gossipy tree spirits at Camp Banshin always said that Wonwoo hyung looked like some sort of ice flower…That should be a compliment right? Maybe Wonwoo is the “pretty thing” the mortal lady referred to. Plus, she did _kiss_ Wonwoo. Which was weird, but that must mean she was...interested in Wonwoo...right?

Then the Minotaur jumped, and they all vanished from his sight.

Silence fell in Camp Half-Blood. 

Slowly, the Demigods lowered their fighting stances and finally processed what had happened. DK gulped at the sights that greeted him

Annabeth and Grover were crying loudly, while holding onto somebody...The trees were weeping too. Their melody was sorrowful but also soothing...as if they were finally able to properly grieve for all that was lost. 

A loud chattering seized his attention. He turned around to see Seungkwan, who was kneeling and glowing...because he was using his healing powers, while Yuna was next to him, frantically trying to stop the massive bleeding from... _Minnie_? Her right _leg_ \- How?! When?!

Seungkwan was babbling to the injured daughter of Ares, desperately trying to make her stay awake. His left hand was glowing brightly on Minnie, while his right hand was busy, taking out herbs from a small pouch and passing them to Yuna, so she could stop the bleeding on Minnie’s leg. DK noticed how the son of Apollo was growing paler with each scoop of herbs.

“Seungkwan...Could you let me see your herb pouch?” DK asked.

His junior looked up at him with watery eyes, and silently passed him what was left of the herbs which, as DK expected, was not much. From Seungkwan’s worried gaze, DK knew that he needed more Yarrow leaves for Minnie’s leg. Making a split second decision, he clutched the pouch in his hands and, for the first time in front of _so many people_ , DK sang. 

He forgot all about his shyness, about his insecurities, about his stagefright. All DK could think of was Minnie’s leg, Seungkwan’s determined face and the other injuries his teammates sustained. So DK poured all of his feelings into his voice and sang his heart out. 

As usual, his powers responded stronger through his voice. The leftover Yarrow leaves started vibrating and soon, a bunch of Yarrow leaves and flowers spilled out of Sungkwan’s pouch. 

When the last note left his lips, DK slumped back tiredly. Making plants grow faster is one thing, but _duplicating_ a plant and then accelerating their growth, always drained his energy. DK glanced at the leaves on his hand. If only he had better control of his powers...he could’ve created more.

“Sorry Kwannie…I know it is not much, but this is the most I can do.”

Seungkwan’s eyes were almost as round as his cheeks. “What are you talking about hyung? These are already very helpful!” Seungkwan exclaimed happily. “Yuna quick, give Minnie more of the leaves! Hyung, please pass some of these to Qi Tong.” 

DK found the daughter of Apollo in the middle of the camp, busy taking care of Vernon and Sengcheol’s wounds. Though the two smiled when he stopped by, DK felt guilty for not being able to help much during their fight with the Minotaur. If only he had been stronger...maybe the three of them could’ve killed off the Minotaur and suffered less injuries.

“Hyung, could you check on...Minghao-hyung? I’ll be there once I’m done with these two.” Qi Tong asked as she pointed to where Minghao was kneeling. Once again, DK found himself following the orders of others.

As he came closer, he realized that the son of Ares was rocking himself and was hunched protectively over a small... _something_. It was only when he was next to Minghao that DK realized what the other boy was holding.

Horror, sadness and sympathy filled his heart as DK stared at Na Ri’s decapitated head.

Minghao was hugging and caressing the head gently, while saying sorry over and over again. His cries were quiet but heart wrenching, almost as if all the air had left his body and would not come back. Despite his rather sarcastic and aloof personality, DK knew that Minghao loves all of his siblings dearly. He was also very protective and would gladly sacrifice himself to save any of his brothers and sisters. Thus, DK knew how hard this must be to him.

Slowly, he put a comforting hand on Minghao. The eyes that greeted him were red, watery and filled with so much _pain_ that he immediately pulled his friend into a comforting hug. He heard through a grapevine that a bear hug could heal the soul, especially if it was from the people whom you are close to. That info seemed to be true. Minghao's quiet tears gradually became louder as he openly grieved for his beloved sister's death within DK’s embrace. DK could only offer his silent support to the glaring little boy, who had first defended him from bullies on the first day he entered Camp Banshin. He knew that he couldn’t provide much help to Minghao right now, but he hoped that this would comfort him, even if it's just a little.

As promised, Qi Tong came over to inspect Minghao wounds. The grieving boy had a huge gash at his back and more cuts at his ribs, that were bleeding profusely. His blood had already seeped out of his armor and onto DK clothes. At this rate, DK’s really starting to hate the color red. 

Like a child, Minghao vehemently refused Qi Tong’s help, preferring to cling onto DK to cry. Any other time, DK would comply with his friend’s wishes but Minghao really requires medical attention. A sudden cry of relief from Seungkwan, formed an idea in his head.

DK whispered to his friend. “Hao, you still have Minnie...you can’t give up on her. Please let Qi Tong heal you so you can protect your sister.” 

That seemed to do the trick. Minghao looked up from DK’s shoulders and glanced at Minnie’s sleeping from. Seungkwan saw them and gave him a thumbs up, before continuing to heal Minnie. Minghao froze but eventually, he slowly released himself from DK and allowed Qi Tong to probe him. 

DK accompanied his friend as their youngest healer healed him. Once finished, the son of Ares gave him a grateful nod and moved on to stay by Minnie’s side. DK got up, only to see a super aggressive Mingyu coming towards him and Qi Tong. 

If grieving Minghao was like rainfall, a distressed Mingyu was like a storm before the rain. The son of Hephaestus was no longer on fire, but his eyes were burning bright and intense. His steps were heavy but he remained gentle to Wonwoo, who was unconscious and cradled protectively in his arms. Though Wonwoo is only a few inches shorter than Mingyu, his thin frame and lean body made him look tiny against Mingyu’s bulk.

DK couldn’t help but think that they look good together. With Mingyu being like fire and Wonwoo like ice, together they are...melted ice-cream. Okay no, that was a bad metaphor. Point is, they complemented each other nicely. 

“Erm, Mingyu-hyung…you need to put him down so I can check on him...” Qi Tong eyes were kind and gentle, like a soft sunrise in the sky. But instead of listening to the nice gentle sunrise, Mingyu growled and hugged Wonwoo tighter.

“Oh for god’s sake! Put Wonwoo down so Qi Tong can see what’s wrong.” Jeonghan chided exasperatedly. When Mingyu remained unmoving, his tone dipped dangerously. “Put him down before I _make_ you do things you don’t want to do.”

DK gulped nervously. Jeonghan-hyung is usually nice, if not a bit mischievous, but when the son of Aphrodite started using that _tone_ , well...there was a reason why Jeonghan was the most feared senior in Camp Banshin.

After a short moment of hesitation, Mingyu finally made the right decision and relinquished Wonwoo to the ever patient and kind Qi Tong.

“DK-hyung! Sorry, but I need your help again!” 

He hurriedly went back to Seungkwan’s side. “Hyung, could you help me find some Calendula flowers? I saw some around the camp. But since it’s almost identical to Marigold flowers, I’m afraid the others won’t be able to tell the difference...” 

“Sure, I can do that.” DK answered with a smile, glad that he could offer more help to the team.

But before his search, DK went to a quiet corner, took out another Yarrow leaves and sang softly to the herb. He knew that they needed more Yarrow, and Seungkwan might scold him for over-using his powers if he sang in public again. Moreover, with the adrenaline rush gone, DK was embarrassed by his bold action. What was he thinking! He shouldn’t have burdened his teammates by making them listen to his awful singing voice! That was why he avoided singing in front of others. 

The herb on his hand grew and multiplied all the same. Silently, DK stuffed it in his pockets and began to wander around in search of the Calendula flowers.

He made sure to avoid the areas where the dead bodies were...displayed. He could vaguely make out the shapes; some were probably children, others were too mangled to discern. Just looking at those bodies from a distance, already made his stomach sick. DK couldn’t imagine how he would react if he saw them up close. 

So yeah, DK avoided the Camp’s entrance, and entered the forest instead. His fight with the Minotaur left him unable to appreciate nature at that time. But this time, Seungkwan said that he wasn’t in a hurry, so DK strolled along serenely.

Then he heard a soft crying sound. 

“Hello?” he called out hesitantly. The voice immediately fell silent. 

DK really, _really_ hoped that it’s not a ghost.

“A-anyone there? If you’re not a g-g-ghost, I’m here to help.” 

The leaves rustled and DK held his breath. To his relief, a beautiful and petite tree nymph peeked out from behind a tree. 

“Are you...an ally?” She asked warily. Her curly amber hair looked chopped and slightly singed but she seemed otherwise unhurt.

DK raised his hands up to show that he was not a threat. “Yes...Annabeth and Grover brought us to help.” He replied, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. 

The nymph broke into a smile. “They told me that we were safe but...I just couldn’t believe it. Thank the Gods! Is...is Grover alive? Is he hurt? Where is he now?” With each word, she started to walk closer and closer to him, her wet eyes were shining with hope and relief. 

“Grover’s fine! He’s in the Camp now, Miss...erm, can I have your name?” 

“Oh pardon me, where are my manners? I am Juniper, Grover’s wife.” 

“REALLY?” DK shouted, before he could help himself. “GROVER? GROVER SERIOUSLY, COME HERE QUICK!!!!” 

Minutes later, Grover’s clumsy footsteps resounded nearby. 

“What is it DK? Annabeth’s still crying and we have a lot of bodies to bury, and I still need to look for survivors...What is it that yo-” 

No answer was necessary, as Grover’s eyes fell to Juniper. The satyr’s mouth hung open in shock, while tears filled his brown eyes. “Juniper...you're alive! When I couldn’t f-find you that night, I thought…”

Then like one of those cheesy, romantic comedy korean dramas, they ran towards each other and embraced one another. Grover kept kissing...or licking her face over and over again.

“Oh DK...Thank you so much for finding the love of my life!” Grover beamed in gratitude. 

DK acknowledged his thanks rather awkwardly, feeling that he didn’t do anything great to deserve such gratefulness. 

In return for DK’s so-called help, Juniper had kindly shown him a patch of Calendula flowers, that DK immediately harvested as per Seungkwan’s order. Then they left the forest and went back to the camp, where Grover dragged Juniper around to share his unexpected blessing.

The camp was in a lighter mood, as many of the Demigods were in better medical condition than before. However the same could not be said about Wonwoo, who was already awake, but remained trapped within Mingyu’s embrace. DK knew that Mingyu was a hugger but with Wonwoo, he took hugging to a whole nother level.

“Mingyu...Seriously, I’m fine. Stop babying me.” Wonwoo whined as he tried to break free from Mingyu's rather-intimate grip, his face red from embarrassment. “Gyu...let me go and speak with Seungcheol-hyung first? It’s urgent.”

Mingyu remained stubborn. 

Wonwoo sighed in defeat. “Fine Gyu. I...I promise...I’ll grant you one wish with no questions asked okay? I really need to talk to the rest of the Hyungs.”

“...Really?” 

“Yes, yes. Please just let me get up now, and I’ll grant you that one wish, where I’ll do anything you asked of me. But your wish can’t be more wishes or anything similar to that, ok? You know the rules.”

Mingyu's eyes darken. “Fine...But you’ll let me take care of you after that.”

“Alright! I’ll do whatever.” Wonwoo waved his hand in agreement and Mingyu finally released him from his strong hold. 

Wonwoo's face immediately switched to — what DK assumed to be — an ice flower expression, the moment he left Mingyu’s side. DK was reminded of a _Bian lian_ performance video that Jun had shown him before. The rate of which Wonwoo changed his face was almost professional.

The son of Athena then quickly rushed over to where Seungcheol, Woozi and Vernon were at, before the quartet began engaging in some serious discussion. DK tried to listen and understand their discussion but his headache was back, so he stopped.

He chose to study the rest of his friends instead. Mingyu had gone over to talk to Dino, and the two were also engaged in another fervent discussion. Seungkwan and Qi Tong were resting under a tree, probably as exhausted after doing so much healing. Yuna, who was helping the healers, was curled up on Seungkwan lap, already fast asleep.

In the middle of the camp, Jun was sitting near Minghao, who sat by Minnie’s side. The two waved him over and DK joined their circle. He watched as Minghao’s long bangs — which was not normal for any Ares kids’ to have — fell to his eyes as he used a cloth to gently wipe off the dirt and blood on Minnie’s face. DK was grateful that he could finally enjoy some peace and quiet...which was broken immediately by Jun.

“So what’s your plan, Haohao?” the son of Dionysus suddenly asked.

Minghao looked as surprised as DK. But then he shook his head dejectedly.

“My plan…? What can I do...I couldn't even protect my sisters.”

“Hmm, but you can protect her now, right?” said Jun, with an oddly vacant look on his face that DK had never seen before. His gardening friend always wore a smile. Even during battles, he would have a small smile…Practically everyone knew that Jun is _always_ smiling.

Minghao though, had other things to worry about. The son of Ares looked down at his sister and frowned bitterly.

“I don’t know. _How_ can I protect her? All I have is my sword, my skills and my- MOM!” He shouted the last word, causing everyone to turn and look at them. Minghao completely ignored the other’s questioning looks. “I have _mom_! Of course! Gods, where did I put that stupid, ugly-ass phone...?”

Minghao rummaged his bag for a few minutes, before taking out a...well, a stupid, ugly-ass phone. The phone looked ancient and big, almost like a heavy, bronze brick. It looked even _older_ than a Nokia phone. DK had no idea where his friend had acquired such a thing. Said friend then clumsily fiddled with it and finally dialed his mother.

“Mom? Hi, I need your help. No, I’m not dead or dying, but one of my sis is injured. Could you come over now? Yes now _now_. Are you coming? What do you mean _No_? Mom, please I beg you…That’s not what you want to hear? Well whaddya want?!” Minghao hissed in annoyance. 

“Tell her you love her.” commented Jeonghan, as he not-so-accidentally, walked past them. 

Minghao shot him a disbelieving look. “Hyung, are you serious?” 

The son of Ares grimaced when Jeonghan nodded. 

“Mom...I love you. _Now_ could you please come over?...You are on the way you say? Oh, okay. I’m at camp half blood right now. Oh you knew? Yes yes, I love you too.” He kissed the phone and ended the call. Minghao then slumped down and covered his face. “God that was embarrassing, I’m not doing that again.” 

“NO, I’m not doing that!” 

A well-timed shout, shifted DK's attention. As he turned around, DK spotted Wonwoo, who was crossing his arms and glaring venomously at Mingyu.

His boyfriend countered it with a pout. “But Wonu-hyung, you promised one wish!” 

“No Gyu, I’m not wearing a fucking collar with your name on it!” 

“It is a choker, not a collar.” Mingyu explained rather exasperatedly. “You promised!…Are you telling me that children of Athena would _break_ their promises?”

To DK’s horror, Wonwoo turned around and grabbed Mingyu’s collar, face contorted in anger as he took offence to the insult. DK wringed his hands in concern. He had never seen Wonwoo so angry before. Could this be the end of the melted ice-cream couple? But they looked so good together!

Even in the face of such wrath, Mingyu stood unflinchingly. His gaze was gentle but firm, as he continued to meet Wonwoo’s furious eyes. The son of Athena eventually released his grip.

“You piece of- Urgh, Fine! Fine, I’ll wear that...that _choker_.”

Mingyu beamed brightly and pounced to hug his boyfriend. DK heaved a sigh of relief.

“But why must you include your name on it, when you’ve practically announced to everyone that I _belonged to you_?” Wonwoo hissed, as he rounded on Mingyu like a predator out for a kill. “I know you won’t do this for no reason. So why a choker with your _name_?”

“Oh. Erm...Be...b-because…I...Err...” Mingyu paled as Wonwoo continued to corner him.

Wonwoo’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to put a tracker on it, like what Dino did to his wallet, and that’s why it requires your name...?”

DK was pleasantly surprised. Was there really such a thing? He wouldn’t have lost his favourite watch if he had known such a useful power existed! DK made a mental note to ask Dino about it later. 

Mingyu on the other hand, might be killed soon. Wonwoo had noticed Mingyu’s little flinch at the word ‘tracker’ and he blew up. Again. 

“Gyu, are you serious?! You want me to wear that so you could track me? What do you think I am? Your dog?!”

Now, it was Mingyu’s turn to take offence. “I want to make a choker with a tracker so that if you’re in danger, I can help you. Is it so wrong that I don’t wanna lose you? That I want to keep you safe?”

Almost immediately, as if a bucket of cold water had doused him, Wonwoo’s anger evaporated. “So you just want to make sure that I’m safe…and not...”

“Yes. Don’t you feel the same? Don’t you want to be able to check if I’m safe at all times...?” Mingyu asked, his voice was almost whining.

The son of Athena looked both troubled and touched at the same time. “Yes. Yes, of course I do want to know if you’re safe or not...” 

Mingyu then broke into a sly grin. “Okay! then I’ll make two of them.”

“I-You’ll make what?”

“Two chokers! One for you and one for me. _With each of our names engraved on it_.” 

“Kim Mingyu! Don’t you dare-” 

DK couldn’t hear the rest, as Wonwoo had dragged Mingyu off to another location to continue their fight. 

“Ah~ Love is such a beautiful thing.” Jeonghan said as he happily watched the bickering couple in a distance.

Joshua smiled along with his brother. “They’re so perfect for each other. We did great.”

DK’s confused. Like super confused.

“Hyung, they’re both fighting...How is that beautiful?”

Jeonghan tsked at him. “Young man, on the surface you might see a fight but underneath, it’s all a hot, boiling tub of _love_.”

DK’s still very confused, but he whole-heartedly tried to understand what his hyung had said. 

So fighting is...love? DK really couldn’t imagine himself fighting with the one he loves. He could imagine himself being nice to his partner. Maybe even give them flowers everyday...He would grow all sorts of plants and...maybe….serenade them? Only if they don’t mind listening to his voice...

“Speaking of love, you have such a nice voice DK. It’s perfect for singing love songs.” said Joshua as he waved at Jeonghan, who was called away by Annabeth.

DK felt his face turn red. “Y-you heard me hyung?” 

“I did. Twice in fact. I apologize if it was private but...it was so magical. For a moment, I thought that you’re a child of Apollo.” Joshua chuckled good-naturedly. “You should sing more often. You sound good.” 

DK gave a shy smile. Not a lot of people had complimented his voice before. “Thanks Shua-hyung…”

They fell into a companionable silence, and DK was about to finally enjoy some peace and quiet...before it was broken again. This time by a loud, rather melodious voice.

“Xiao Hao, I’m here~! Where are you, my darling son?!” 

From the forest, out came a slim and beautiful lady, who was holding a big Prada bag, that had a _gun_ sticking out of the branded bag. The white sun hat on her head, only accentuated her bright red hair, which was of the same color with her high heels. With a flourish, she took down her sunglasses, looked at the whole group and smiled charmingly.

“Hello everyone, I’m Minghao’s mother. Nice to meet you all!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some calm after battle at last. Next chapter is some Mom Power ^^  
> Also, I hate to say this but posting might start slowing down starting next week or the week after, cause it's catching up with our writing & editing TAT We'll do our best to do it faster...  
> Comments & Kudos r much appreciated. Thank You~


	12. Ch 11 - MVP Mom (Wonwoo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeep. You've caught up with our latest chapter TvT  
> W-We'll try to edit faster!  
> As usual, Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Enjoy~

To say that Wonwoo’s disturbed by Ava Pierce was an understatement.

Wonwoo was _Extremely. Disturbed_. 

The way she looked at him sent shivers down his spine. Ava Pierce is dangerous, not to mention crazy. Even with a knife on her throat, she was still smiling carelessly, as if death was merely a distant concept. Wonwoo could make a long list about Ava Pierce’s creepiness, but his current worry was not about her personality. It was about the words she uttered, just before her foul lips touched his own.

_“We found Annabeth’s kids but...a little centipede told me that Leo Valdez got to them first. Hehehehe….What do you think is going to happen when we find them, hmm my pretty little thing?”_

Wonwoo had never felt so insulted. He hated it when she called him her _‘thing’_ , as if he was just some object to be owned and used till he expired. Wonwoo recalled his childhood memories, when he was still part of the rich and powerful Jeon Conglomerate. There was a reason why he ran from that place as soon as he was able to. He swore that he would never ‘belong’ to any group or person, ever again. 

But he digressed. That wasn’t the important part of the conversation.

“They’re after Annabeth children.” Wonwoo said after he had finally wriggled free from the clutches of his overly-concerned boyfriend. 

Seungcheol, Woozi and Vernon stared back at him with wide eyes.

“Apparently they found the location of the kids, but Leo Valdez got to them first so...they’re currently looking for Leo’s safe house.”

“Is this true? Could it be a trap?” Woozi asked.

Wonwoo shivered when he recalled Ava Pierce’s expression. “No...I’m positive that she was telling me the truth.” 

Seungcheol bit his lips as he surveyed the devastation around him. “Well, now we know our next destination but...what about all the dead here? We can’t just leave them here to rot.”

“But we also cannot allow the dead to hinder us from saving the living.” Vernon retorted logically.

Woozi sighed and gestured to their back. “Why don’t we let Annabeth decide? You have the right to, since they’re your kids and your camp.” 

The rest turned around to find Annabeth standing silently behind them, her face pale and eyes swollen from grief. 

“I want to rescue my children and...I’m sure Percy would want that too.” Her eyes lingered towards her husband’s still body, before she forced herself to look away and assessed the state of Camp Half Blood. What she saw brought tears to her eyes again. “At the same time, I don’t want all of them to rot here...It’s just so wrong…” 

Wonwoo took Annabeth’s shaky hands and squeezed them gently. He understood her. Being a Child of Athena does make them a little smarter and more logical than most, but...they are still human. They are still living beings with a heart and they still have emotions. Other people often forget that. No...even they themselves would sometimes forget.

So he wanted to help Annabeth. He wanted to respect her emotions and tell her to listen to her heart, rather than her brain. Wonwoo cleared his throat hesitantly. “Well, if need be then...we can try splitting the group first…”

“Are you serious? Even I know better than to do that.” Woozi growled menacingly. “Don’t be an idiot Wonwoo. Now’s not the time to let your emotions rule over you.”

Wonwoo looked away, ashamed that his motive was seen through so quickly by his observant friend. Yes, splitting up might not be the best solution, but the anguish in Annabeth’s eyes was plain as day. Afterall, she had lost too much, and much too fast. Wonwoo just wanted to do _something_ for her.

The silence stretched on, but Wonwoo refused to give in. He could feel his hands trembling from all the stress that he experienced today. And the day hasn’t even ended! Wonwoo silently prayed for nighttime to come quickly.

What came to help him was not the moon, but their resident lightning rod.

“Alright guys, let's compromise. We can’t leave immediately, so while we’re here, let’s do a...a short memorial.” Said Seungcheol tentatively. “Then we’ll have to...burn the entire camp to cremate all the bodies at once…Would that be okay with you Annabeth?” 

The daughter of Athena gave a self-deprecating smile. “I don’t have much choice now do I?” She replied flatly, before shuffling away back to Percy’s side. But before she left, Wonwoo felt a return squeeze on his hand. He smiled a little at Annabeth’s silent thank you.

Speaking of Thank yous, Grover had been thanking DK non-stop for finding Juniper. The satyr had cheered up considerably, after finding his wife alive and well among so many deaths. It was truly a happy miracle for all. Wonwoo had no idea how the satyr was going to evacuate her when Juniper was tied down to a bush, but he kept his questions to himself. Grover deserves a break, even if it's just a short reprieve.

Seungcheol seemed to have similar thoughts. “Let's start again in 15 mins. I’m gonna go check the other campers. You guys rest for a while kay?” He flashed them a quick smile before bounding over to where Jeonghan and Joshua were sitting.

Wonwoo walked over to where he was resting a few minutes ago, only to find Mingyu staring intently at him.

Uh-oh, he wasn’t gonna like this, was he?

“What have you done now?” He asked tiredly.

Mingyu shook his head quickly. “No! I didn’t- I haven’t- I mean. I need to ask you something hyung...” He started twiddling his thumb. “Can you please wear a choker...with my name on it?”

Wonwoo was right. He didn’t like this _at all_.

He didn’t mean to get so angry, but the more his brain processed the request, the angrier he got. Yes, he could easily debate his way out of it, but all the stress, fear and injuries from the past few days had finally bubbled over.

Wonwoo snapped.

He absolutely hates the idea of wearing anything that could be taken as a sign of ownership. A collar is fine, if it was just an accessory, but Mingyu wanted to put his _name_ on it...Is that what he thought of Wonwoo? A pet? An object? A dead emotionless toy? 

“You promised!…Are you telling me that children of Athena would break their promises?”

Did Mingyu just- Oh no he _didn’t_.

For once, Wonwoo’s body reacted faster than his brain. The next time he blinked, Mingyu’s collar was already tightly gripped in his hands, and he was glaring straight at his clear brown eyes. “You piece of- “

How could Mingyu use the name of Athena just like that? Wonwoo groaned. He shouldn't have made that bloody promise in the first place. But he did and so, he must now pay the price... 

“Urgh, Fine! Fine, I’ll wear that...that _choker_.”

The sunny grin was back on Mingyu’s face, and Wonwoo was soon engulfed in yet another hug from his boyfriend. 

Being in Mingyu’s embrace somehow calmed him down. With his swirling emotions subsiding, Wonwoo’s brain started to work double time. Something felt fishy about this whole collar business. Mingyu was being _too_ persistent. He even used the name of Athena like that...there must’ve been a reason. Even now, his boyfriend was fidgety and nervous...almost as if he was _still_ hiding something.

A possibility entered his mind and Wonwoo balked at the idea. He had overheard Dino boasting about a new skill before, one that allowed him to track down his items, as long as his name was written on it. Mingyu couldn't possibly be that crazy as to make the collar a tracker...right?

“Why must the choker have your name on it when you have practically announced to everyone _that I belong to you_?”

Yes, Wonwoo was still a little pissed because Mingyu had (sort of) announced their relationship to the entire camp. But he could get his revenge later. He had more pressing matters to confirm first.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to put a tracker on it, like what Dino did to his wallet, and that’s why it requires your name...?”

Mingyu flinched and refused to meet his eye.

Wonwoo saw red.

“Gyu, are you serious?! You want me to wear that so you could _track_ me down? What do you think I am? Your dog?!”

Brown eyes snapped back up and stared unflinchingly at his grey eyes. “I want to make a choker with a tracker so that if you’re in danger, I can help you. Is it so wrong that I don’t wanna lose you? That I want to keep you _safe_?”

Mingyu always had the knack to make Wonwoo’s brain stop thinking. Sometimes, it was as if his brain was warmed like in a hot bath and sometimes, like this moment right now, it was as if he was doused with a bucket of cold water. Wonwoo was so used to protecting others, that it never occurred to him that he was being protected instead. His brain had been thinking the worst of Mingyu.

“So you just want to make sure that I’m safe…and not...”

His boyfriend is full-on whining now. “Yes. Don’t you feel the same? Don’t you want to be able to check if I’m safe at all times...?” 

Wonwoo didn’t know if he wanted to punch or hug Mingyu. “Yes. Yes, of course I do want to know if you’re safe or not...” 

Mingyu smiled dazzlingly. “Okay! then I’ll make two of them.”

What?

“I-You’ll make what?”

“Two chokers! One for you and one for me. _With each of our names engraved on it_.” 

_WHAT?_

“Kim Mingyu! Don’t you dare-” 

Suddenly, he noticed that almost everyone was looking at them with varying degrees of amusement. Wonwoo blushed hard and snagged Mingyu’s hand to drag him off to a more secluded corner. He needed to explain the stupidity of _“couple items”_ to his boyfriend and make sure that he didn’t actually make one. And if he lost to those sad puppy eyes and agreed to whatever Mingyu wanted...then at least he would like to do that in private, thank you very much. 

Five minutes into his debate, a new voice pierced through the desolated camp.

“Xiao Hao, I’m here~! Where are you, my darling son?!” 

From the corner of his eyes, Wonwoo saw Minghao facepalmed. 

The trees parted and the owner of the voice came to light. She was a beautiful lady, truly as expected from descendants of Aphrodite. What was not expected however, was the MP5K submachine gun that was sticking out dangerously from her branded bag. Her blood red high heels clanked noisily as she walked to the middle of the campgrounds. 

“Hello everyone, I’m Minghao’s mother. Nice to meet you all!” 

“Mom! Must you be so dramatic?”

“Hi to you too Xiao Hao~”

“Hello Madam Xu!”

“Oh hi Mingyu! You’re here too? And please, call me Miss Xu or Miss Jia Ying. That goes for the rest of you as well!”

Wonwoo never met her before, but he knew of her. Actually, everyone from Camp Banshin knows who Xu Jia Ying is. As the current female head of the Xu Mafia Group, and she is as beautiful as she is deadly. Even Ares, the god of war, was attracted to her beauty and skills. She was also their camp’s financial backer and the one who supplied numerous crafting materials for Hephaestus Cabin. She adored Mingyu’s fashionable armours and weapons, and would often order them for herself and her son. Moreover, she was also close to Jeonghan and Joshua, who actually treated her with _reverence_.

Wonwoo had included her name in his _Top-10-Women-Not-to-Offend_ list. 

The powerful lady before him then wrinkled her nose. “Oooh the smell is quite horrible. So many corpses here! Alright, so who died?” 

Reminded of his loss again, hot angry tears cascaded down Minghao’s cheeks. “Na Ri...Mom, they k-killed Na Ri. And they hurt Minnie, her legs…” 

To Wonwoo’s surprise, instead of comforting Minghao, Ms. Xu tilted her head in confusion, as though she was genuinely puzzled by her son’s grief. 

“So? People die all the time, Xiao Hao. Besides, you and your friends are in the middle of a _War_. It’s inevitable that some people will die. We can’t possibly cry for every single fallen ally.” 

Her voice was gentle, in contrast to the harshness of her words. She pulled her son into a hug.

“Minghao ah~ You said that you’ll inherit my position in the mafia. In the future, you’ll surely face more deaths. Instead of crying, grow stronger and make your enemies _regret_ for even touching those you care about. Do you understand what I mean, my darling son?”

Minghao stared hard at the ground, as if trying to carve his mothers’ words onto the soil. When he looked up again, he didn’t look as lost as he was before. The son of Ares nodded at his mother and flashed her a grateful smile. Ms Xu simply chuckled and kissed his forehead in return. 

Wonwoo looked away from the mother-son moment, trying to ignore a sharp tug of longing in his heart. Around him, he spotted a few campers wearing a similar look of envy on their faces, which was understandable. Most of them are basically orphans or, they were simply not lucky enough to have a caring and badass parent like Ms. Xu.

Well, perhaps _“unique”_ was a better description for her. When Minghao asked for her help to settle some of the logistic issues that they were facing, she asked for a _payment_. No, not in terms of cash, but in terms of _Aegyo_. Needless to say, they enjoyed a five-minute performance of hair-raising, cringe-worthy, passive-aggressive Aegyo by Minghao, before she finally helped.

With a snap of her perfectly manicured red nails, a group of men in black appeared from the forest. Ms. Xu immediately ordered them to ‘clean up’ the horrifying human gate and other displayed corpses. Mafia work must’ve prepared the men for gruesome deaths, as they didn’t even bat an eye when they dismantled the morbid infrastructures. The bodies were then identified and laid side by side, before Annabeth and Grover lead the impromptu memorial service. 

Annabeth kept her eulogies short and sweet but even then, they were still running out of time. There were almost a hundred bodies in the desolated camp and they simply did not have the luxury to burn the shrouds for all of them. The best they could do now, was to offer prayers and burn the corpses. 

They burned Percy last, after they wrapped him up in the bluest, cleanest blanket they could find. Annabeth vowed to honor and burn all of their shrouds once the Godslayer is dead. 

After that, it was time to leave.

Grover had asked Ms. Xu to help him relocate Juniper, a request which she immediately agreed to. Last Wonwoo saw, were two muscular men, carefully carrying a big Juniper bush away from the camp grounds. Aside from Juniper, Ms. Xu also offered to bring Minnie back to Camp Banshin. None disagreed.

As they were transporting her, the daughter of Ares stirred and slowly opened her eyes.

“Minnie!” Minghao was by her side within seconds.

She gave him a weak smile. “I knew it...Na Ri said that you’ll definitely save me...and look, you did.”

Tears filled Minghao’s eyes. “Minnie, I’m so sorry…I couldn’t protect you two…"

“Don’t cry hyung…it’s not your fault…” Minghao’s tears only fell faster. Minnie gave a small chuckle. “Didn’t know you’re a crybaby hyung...Please come back alive and treat me to Jajangmyun okay?”

The son of Ares nodded vigorously. “I’ll buy all of the Jajangmyun in Korea for you.” The two shared another smile before parting ways. 

Wonwoo watched the exchange with mixed feelings. He was happy that Minnie woke up but at the same time, the feelings of guilt became worse. After all, it was because of Wonwoo’s incompetence that two of their main fighting forces were gone. Not only gone, Na Ri even _died_. Wonwoo looked away from the crowd forming around Minnie. He knew that he didn’t have the right to face her, so he left without saying goodbye.

The son of Athena walked away from Camp Half Blood with a heavy heart and a promise that he would do better to protect those that he cares about, and not repeat this mistake ever again. 

Once outside the camp, Ms. Xu led them through yet another goat trail, where they saw a really familiar yellow bus. To their horror, the body of a big satyr was splayed in front of the doorway, where it looked as if he had been dragged out of the bus and ripped into two. 

Shocked gasps, sobs and crying could be heard all around him. Wonwoo bowed his head and sent a silent prayer for Nuxxies, their satyr guide. That would be another person to add into his never ending list of _Things-To-Be-Guilty-About_.

“I think you can use this bus as a transportation.” Ms. Xu said coolly, as though the body in front of them did not exist. “My men found it when we were moving to Camp Half Blood. Sadly, this poor fella was already dead by then.” 

With a wave of her hand, Ms. Xu’s men started cleaning the bus and carried Nuxxies’ body away. Within minutes, the bus was pristine and spotless. 

Ms. Xu nodded approvingly. “Perfect. Now for one last touch.” She then took out a wad of cash and passed it to Minghao with a wink. “Some pocket money for your quest. Good luck my son, and remember to bring honor to your family!”

“Mom, please stop quoting _Mulan_.” 

Ms Xu just giggled and waved her son’s comment away. Then she suddenly gasped and ran towards her black car. She returned with a box full of...trinkets, and passed it to Mingyu. “I almost forgot! Here’s your supplies Mingyu ah. I’m very interested in your finished product! Tell me if he likes it later, I might order one for Minghao and myself~”

“Thank you for your support Ms. Xu. I’ll keep you updated~ Here’s your exploding earrings as ordered!” 

The two then started whispering and discussing something, as they huddled to one side of the bus. Wonwoo caught them staring at him a couple of times, but seeing that he had a lot of things to prepare, Wonwoo ignored their fishy behaviour and focused on his work. He couldn’t babysit his boyfriend all the time.

Once they had stocked up on food and water, they were ready to depart. Annabeth had kindly volunteered to drive, and they bid goodbye to Mx. Xu as they boarded the bus. 

When it was his turn to climb up the bus, Wonwoo tugged at Ms. Xu’s sleeves to silently get her attention. His eyes glanced over to Nuxxies body. “Ms. Xu, I know you’re busy but do you think you could...”

She squeezed his hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to bury and return him back to nature.” 

Wonwoo bowed respectfully. “Thank you.”

“No worries~ It’s our job as adults to support you kids. Besides, I got to see my son’s Aegyo. That’s more than enough payment.” She grinned, her eyes were full of warmth and affection. 

Wonwoo smiled back, albeit a little wistfully. Minghao is really blessed with such an amazing mom.

They kept thanking and waving at Ms. Xu and her men in black, until they totally disappeared from their sight. 

The bus slowly got more and more rowdy as the initial sadness passed. To liven up the atmosphere, Dino started teasing Minghao over his Aegyo and soon the whole group was teasing him, making him blush so hard that he started covering his face in embarrassment. 

The mood may have lightened but the fear, guilt and worries, did not. Once in a while, Wonwoo spotted some of his members with a vacant look on their faces, when they thought that nobody was looking at them. This was not their experience with death, but it was the first time they faced it so helplessly. 

Wonwoo was worried that their spirit would be crushed before they could even reach their goal, the Godslayer. Sure, Joshua could lift their spirits up with his abilities but in the end, the campers themselves needed to be strong enough to conquer their own psychological battles. 

Or at least not think about it, while acting as useful as possible for the sake of their quest, like what Wonwoo is doing right now.

The son of Athena massaged his eyes, tired but too afraid to take a short nap, in case they were attacked again. He needed someone to keep him awake. Wonwoo glanced around. Why was Mingyu sitting alone at the back? He seemed to be engrossed in something...Should Wonwoo go over and check on him? 

Before he could stand, the seat next to him dipped and Wonwoo found himself looking at Seungcheol’s knowing face.

“You looked like you’re overthinking again. Go to sleep.” He said warmly. “I’ll watch over the rest.”

Without waiting for a reply, Seungcheol pushed Wonwoo’s head to his shoulder and started patting his head rhythmically. The motion made him feel as if his heart was too full and too warm at the same time. Wonwoo tamp down the sudden urge to cry freely like a child, but he did shuffle closer to his hyung.

As he drifted off to sleep, a sliver of thought entered his mind. Even though Wonwoo didn’t have loving parents, he had found a bigger, warmer and more loving family, in Camp Banshin...And that made him just as blessed as Minghao. Feeling slightly lighter, Wonwoo’s eyes fluttered shut, and he fell into a comfortable, dreamless slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do u like Minghao's mom? ^^ Most of the members are orphans but some still hv parents~  
> And yes, more Meanie because both authors ship it.  
> Updates might be slower now...we hope for ur understanding TvT  
> Comments & Kudos r much appreciated. Thank You~


	13. Ch 12 - Isn’t your skin a little too tough? (Minghao)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm abt a week late...TvT  
> Apologies. Life was hetic last week. We'll do our best to keep the update constant!  
> As usual, Pls pardon our mistakes of you spot any. Enjoy~

Anger. Hatred. _Murder_.

The need to kill something was on his mind as he sat in the bus with all the other campers. They started out with 3 children of Ares but now, one of them is dead, the other badly injured and the last one is...him. He was the hyung of the two girls, he was supposed to protect them and yet here he was, still alive and breathing and completely _useless_. 

The confidence that Minghao had in the beginning of the journey, had completely disappeared. Previously, he carelessly thought that even if someone did die, the casualties would be from other cabins…not the Ares’ cabin. God, he was horrible for having such thoughts. Maybe the Gods are secretly punishing him right now...by taking away the siblings that he wanted to protect the most. 

For the better or worse, Minghao knew that he wasn’t alone in blaming himself. The look on the others’ faces told him that many of them were equally devastated about Na Ri and Minnie’s circumstances. Wonwoo looked as if he wanted to kill himself for asking them to go on that scouting mission. Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Hoshi and even Woozi, also looked dispirited, as if they were blaming themselves for what had happened. Minghao knew that these hyungs would willingly take Na Ri’s and Minnie's place, if they could. 

A rush of affection stabbed his heart. Yeah, not only great dongsaengs, Minghao also has great hyungs... 

A blur of purple suddenly entered his vision. “Minghao yah, your mom’s super cool!” smiled Jun as he plopped down on the seat next to him.

The thought of his mother filled Minghao with pride. He nodded happily.

“And she settled everything within an hour. She’s amazing! I’m so jealous!“ DK chirped excitedly. “Now, if only your mother could come along and fight with us...” 

Minghao sighed, a similar thought did enter his mind but, “This isn’t her battle. The prophecy said 17 demigods will fight the Godslayer, so we can’t involve her.” Seeing his friends’ crestfallen faces, he quickly added, “And can you imagine what I have to do in order to get her to help me?”

Jun grinned widely. “Actually, you weren't that bad. It somewhat suits you! I have to say that you’re _terribly cute_ at it.” 

Minghao rolled his eyes. “Puh-lease, you’ll never find an _Ares_ kid who can do aegyo, cutely.”

Both of his friends looked at one another, before pointing at him. 

“I found an Ares kid who can do aegyo cutely and I’m pointing at him.” said Jun, with all the seriousness of a four-year old.

DK giggled. “Yeah, I can’t believe that you’ve been hiding your Aegyo talents all this time!”

Minghao scowled at the two clowns next to him, which only made them laugh even harder. He looked away from his laughing friends, both to show his exasperation and to hide the smile that was tugging at his lips. Though annoying, Minghao was thankful for DK and Jun’s distractions.

Suddenly, a ringtone reverberated in the bus, startling everyone. Minghao cringed at the ugly ass phone that was vibrating in his bag. After apologizing for startling his teammates, he picked up the incoming call.

“OPPPAAAYYAAAA!!” Minnie's voice chirped brightly on the other end.

Minghao couldn’t believe his ears. When they parted, his half-sister sounded so frail and sickly. “M-Minnie? Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, told ya I’ll be fine! Imma on a plane back to China. Once I‘m healthy enough, I’ll be getting a prosthetic leg! Soon I will be kicking ass again, just you wait.” 

“Really? You...will be able to walk again?” 

“Of course! So please don’t worry about me and kick some monster’s ass! I know you’re still depressed about what happened but...you can’t be reckless! Please fight coolly and carefully! You have to come back to us okay?”

“Okay…I won’t be reckless and I will fight coolly. I’ll be so cool that after this quest, everyone will only remember me.” 

Minnie giggled. “That's the spirit! You know that I love you lots, right oppa?” 

“Yes I know.”

“Then make sure you come back in one piece.” 

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Anyways my food is here so I’m hanging up! Love you Oppa.”

“Love you too.” Minghao said warmly, as he ended the call. The smile lingered on his lips. “Idiot sister...didn’t even know that you can’t use this phone on a plane...” 

He knew that the lie was deliberate. Minnie was probably worried about him, that's why she had personally called Minghao, to let him know that she was genuinely okay. 

As he mulled over his sister’s words, Minghao’s thoughts began to clear. Minnie’s right. Anger clouds judgement, which leads to recklessness, which might then lead to death. Minghao knew that, but the problem is...he _couldn’t_ stop feeling angry. Rage simmered quietly underneath his skin, unseen but not forgotten. 

The son of Ares sighed in resignation. Perhaps he should meditate to cool his anger and calm his heart. Minghao excused himself and moved to an empty seat on the back of the bus. There, he opened the window, settled into a lotus pose and closed his eyes. MInghao ignored the chatterings of his fellow bus riders and focused instead on the sounds coming from outside of the bus. Years of practice made him easily enter into a state of trance. The sound of wind and the soft rumbling of the bus sounded like music to his ears, even the soft growl sounded gentle and soft- wait. A _growl?_

Minghao’s eyes shot open.

First things first, the bus had stopped moving. Second, it was completely silent. Peeking above his seat, Minghao saw that all of his friends had stopped talking and were staring forward, in a mix of awe and dread.

And then he saw _why_.

A huge feline sat in the middle of the road, blocking their bus. No, it's not a cat. More like a Lion that’s around the size of a _truck_. It’s metallic golden skin shone brightly in the sun, while it’s long silver claws gleamed menacingly. The feline was busy licking its powerful paws, completely ignoring the bus and its occupants.

“The Nemean Lion…” Mingyu whispered almost lovingly.

Half of the bus turned around to give the son of Hephaestus a weird look. 

Mingyu was almost salivating as he stared at the monster. “Just look at its magnificent pelt! The sharp claws! The thick mane!...Beautiful...oh the things I could make from all those…”

Wow. Okay first, Mingyu is _weird_. Second, if they had to fight this creature, Minghao calls dibs on its skin. The golden pelt would have made a wonderful bulletproof coat.

Seeing that everybody was frozen in place, Grover stood up slowly, trying not to startle the Nemean Lion who was now grooming it’s fur in front of their bus.

“Okay, alright...Calm down...Lets see...Percy has fought the Nemean Lion before. They have a fatal weakness…last time we shot an arrow into its mouth so we can do that again.”

“And how did you guys do that?” asked Seungcheol, voice filled with sincerity.

“We fed it some astronaut food last time...when it got disgusted by it, the lion roared and opened its mouth. Then we shot the mouth.” Grover replied confidently.

“And how are we supposed to get some astronaut food here?!” asked Seungkwan, voice filled with sarcasm.

“Baahhh...Err…”

“Quiet!” Annabeth hissed as she silently shifted gear to turn the bus around. They needed to get away from the Lion without making too much noise.

BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP-

Everyone stared in horror at the gear stick next to the steering wheel. Was reversing a bus always this loud?!

Too late. The Nemean Lion looked up, it’s beady eyes immediately locked onto the bus. It slowly rose up to its full length and licked its lips. 

“Oh crap…” Annabeth whispered. “Here goes nothing!” 

BEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP-

Abandoning her plan to u-turn the bus, Annabeth stepped on the gas while they were on Reverse. The yellow bus lurched back, before speeding backwards at full speed. The Nemean Lion chased after them like a deadly, overgrown puppy.

“OH MY GOD!!! Why do we keep meeting monsters in buses?! Can’t they wait until we reach our location or something?” complained Seungkwan as he started flailing around. “First harpies, now the Nemean Lion, what’s next, a titan?!”

Vernon got up from his seat with a sigh. “Looks like I'll have to go up to the roof of the bus again.” 

“No time!” Annabeth shouted as she jumped out of the driver’s seat. A second later, the view of a giant, golden snout filled the entire front window. The Nemean Lion slammed into the bus, breaking the front windows and crushing the steering wheels in one move.

Seungcheol and Wonwoo grabbed the fallen daughter of Athena and hauled her to their seat. Her obvious limp and the way she clutched at her ankle, told Minghao that they were one fighter down. 

“Kay, so no rooftops this time...” muttered Vernon as a silver bow and arrows appeared in his hands. The hunter raised up his bow to shoot at...what? It's nostrils maybe? Minghao had no idea. As far as he could see, the Lion had no penetrable weakness.

With the front of the bus completely trampled by the Lion, the back of their bus tilted up, and Minghao felt as if they were playing a deadly game of seesaw. Everyone was hanging desperately onto their seats, trying to avoid falling into the Lion’s snout, that is now sniffing the bus curiously.

“Guys, the seatbelts! Use it as a handhold or strap it on like Minghao so you don’t fall off!” shouted Wonwoo.

The son of Ares rolled his eyes when the rest of his friends copied him. Being the sensible boy that he was, Minghao had used the seatbelts the moment he sat on the bus. Don’t these people know the importance of seatbelts? it was created for a reason and it does save lives, case in point.

While the others were fumbling with their seatbelts, the lithe hunter of Artemis hopped around the bus, before leaning over an overturned seat and taking aim. Vernon’s arrow sailed straight into the Lion’s nostrils. The sight would’ve been funny if the Lion didn’t roar in anger and started shaking the bus. It then flung their bus across the road as if they were just a piece of paper. Okay...seat belts weren’t able to save them this time.

Minghao braced for impact but before they landed, the air around them crackled. Seungcheol hovered and shimmered in the middle of the bus, like Avatar the last airbender. The son of Zeus was scrunched up in concentration as his silver hair was tousled by the multiple winds he had summoned to prevent the bus from crashing into the ground. 

Wait...when did his hyung have _red_ hair?

When their bus landed safely, Seungcheol turned around and staggered unsteadily. Apparently somewhere during the time when the lion was flinging the bus, the son of Zeus had cracked open his head. Parts of his hair were clearly stained with blood. Still, their leader gave everyone a gummy smile. “Everyone okay?”

Then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed like a ragdoll.

“Seungcheol!” Jeonghan shouted as he, Jun and Seungkwan, rushed towards the unconscious son of Zeus.

Meanwhile, Wonwoo took one glance at the ruined steering wheel and decided for the team. “Out! Get out of the bus _now_!”

Minghao took that as a cue to slash open a hole in the back of the bus, where the lion was not facing them. His fellow campers rushed to get out of the crushed vehicle, but given the rough landing of the bus, their evacuation was more difficult than expected.

As if displeased by the prospect of their escape, the Lion gave a warning growl. It then lowered it’s head and tensed like a coil, ready to spring on them at any moment.

Wonwoo frantically pushed everyone to get out of the bus. In his haste, he even threw Seungcheol out, leaving the unfortunate Qi Tong and Seungkwan to bear the full weight of their unconscious leader as he came tumbling down the bus. To buy more time, Minghao pulled one of his newly-gifted grenade earrings — another one of Mingyu’s masterpieces — and threw it towards the Lion. Don’t cats like bright lights and loud noises? A small explosion should distract the feline...right? 

_Wrong_.

Maybe this was why his mother never let him have a pet. 

Instead of distracting it, the explosion surprised the Nemean Lion and prompted it to action. The Lion gave an angry hiss before it came charging straight to where they were.

Before MInghao could make things worse, Jeonghan quickly stepped forward and faced the incoming Lion. “ _ **SIT!**_ ” 

Power radiated from the son of Aphrodite as the charmspeak took effect. That single command was filled with so much persuasion that the Lion immediately kneeled on the ground, right in front of the bus. Even Minghao felt the strong urge to sit down, despite not being the target of Jeonghan’s charmspeak.

“Oh thank the gods that it worked. Now quick, quick, get out.” hissed Jeonghan. His brow was furrowed in concentration, as his eyes stayed glued to the Lion. The others continued evacuating, even as Jeonghan stayed rooted on the spot, afraid that his charmspeak would be dispelled, once he broke eye contact with the creature.

Once everyone else was out of the wrecked bus, Woozi used his shadows to reel Jeonghan to a safe place. Next to him, Hoshi used his tiger-like strength and pushed the tethering bus towards the roaring Lion. 

A loud ripping sound echoed around them, as the Lion’s sharp claws slashed the bus into pieces. Bits and pieces of metals landed on a sign board that said “Welcome to Strongsville!” while the rest of the debris rained down around them. Minghao and the rest of the campers did their best to dodge the deadly shower but unfortunately, some of them weren’t so lucky.

A heavy-looking piece of metal bar sailed straight towards Grover like a missile. It slammed into his head, knocking him unconscious on the spot. Everyone stared at his fallen body. 

“Not AGAIN!” Seungkwan wailed.

“Well, at least he is alive.” Minghao muttered. 

Woozi clicked his tongue irritably and effectively killed all useless chatter. “Focus! Cabin 7, you deal with the injured. The rest, go stop that Lion! Wonwoo you lead. Hoshi, lets go!” 

Wonwoo nodded, while Hoshi yelled his agreement. The two then went right to work.

“Qi Tong, will help me to deal with the injured. Vernon and Seungkwan, you two are our only archers so anytime you see that thing opening its mouth, shoot it. Woozi and Hoshi, go restrain the lion and if you can, try to strangle it. Though it’s fur is strong against weapons, it’s neck can be crushed.”

“Yeah Yeah!” Hoshi shouted back as he punched the monster square in the face. “YAH! WONWOO YOU LIAR! IT HURTS!”

Wonwoo eyes twitched and he shouted back with the same vigor. “YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO _STRANGLE_ IT! NOT PUNCH!” 

“HAVE YOU SEEN THE _SIZE_ OF THIS THING?! IT'S NOT EXACTLY EASY TO STRANGLE IT!” Hoshi screamed back as he avoided a claw to his face. 

“COME ON, HERCULES DID IT! SO CAN YOU!”

“THE FUCK! HERCULES IS NOT A SON OF POSEIDON!”

“HE’S STILL PART OF THE BIG-”

“SHUT UP!” snapped Woozi. “I’M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE HERE.”

The two bickering duo immediately shut their mouths. Talk about Woozi power.

A sizeable crowd had begun to gather around them. Minghao wasn’t sure if it was the shouting match between his hyungs or a giant lion roaming in their neighbourhood, that had attracted the crowd. While Qi Tong was checking up on Seungcheol and Grover’s wounds, Dino and Yuna had already put on a fake smile and were dealing with the nosy mortals.

“Sorry for the loud noises ma’am! We’re just a group of film students, trying to shoot an action movie for our end-year school project.”

Yuna nodded vigorously. “Yeah! We would appreciate it if you keep some distance, so that we can film this quickly and get out of here soon!”

A sceptical elderly lady from the crowd pointed to the lion. “An action film involving a golden retriever? And why are you _hitting_ the dog with a baseball bat?” 

Jeonghan and Joshua went over quickly to support the floundering juniors. 

“Ah yes, our theme is about a dog, fighting against the cruelty of humans.” replied Jeonghan, smoothly lying without breaking his angelic smile.

“Yes it is. Don’t worry ma’am, that bat is a styrofoam bat that we made. We promised that no animal will be hurt during the filming process.” added Joshua, as he upped the watt of his charming, princely smile.

Minghao could hear a couple of girls swooning from that. Even the elderly icy gazes seemed to have thawed a little.

“Oh...is that so…but I don’t think that you have any permission to shoot here...” 

Joshua’s face immediately switched to a teary-eyed look. “Oh, we’re so sorry ma’am...but your park is simply so beautiful that we just _have_ to film it here. We all fell in love at first sight with this park! Please don’t kick us out.”

Jeonghan sported a similar look. “Yes! Please ma’am, this is going to be one of our main projects, so we sincerely hope you all could let us continue our filming here...” 

They sounded so pitiful and so convincing that if Minghao was not involved in the fight, he would have believed them.

The elders shared a look before — unsurprisingly — nodded their heads. “Well, I guess it’s okay...but try to keep the volume down, alright? And don’t damage our precious park!” 

“Of course sirs, ma’ams! Thank you for your permission!” 

“You all are such sweet boys. Hope your film gets a good grade.” said the first elderly lady as she smiled and walked away with her friends. 

Though the elderly group did disperse, the younger youths did not. More teenagers were coming by to look at their “filming” and...to flirt at Jeonghan and Joshua. Since Minghao wanted no part in doing Public Relations, he decided to ask Wonwoo if he could join the battle instead. Sure, it's a more dangerous job, but also looks way more fun than PR work.

As he turned to Wonwoo, who was busy giving pointers to the fighters, he noticed that everyone else was hiding behind his back. 

“What in the name of Ares are you guys doing?” 

DK raised a finger, trying and failing to appear smart. “You see, Seungcheol-hyung is down, Hoshi-hyung, Woozi-hyung and even Vernon are fighting. The Big Three are not available now so the next one that can protect us is you!”

Next to him, Jun gave him a thumbs up, while Annabeth — who just happened to be resting nearby — gave him a mixed look or amusement and embarrassment. 

Minghao simply rolled his eyes and addressed their tactician.

“Wonwoo-hyung, can I fight too?”

The son of Athena glanced at him, a flash of concern crossed his face. “You sure you’re up for it?” 

Minghao smiled reassuringly. “Yeah I’m good.”

Seeing his determination, Wonwoo gave him the permission to enter the battle. 

DK grabbed his shirt before he could jump into the fray. “Minghao! Are you really leaving us defenseless?” 

The son of Ares gave him a wide grin. “Don’t worry. Wonwoo-hyung will protect you, and hyung has Mingyu on his side. Y’all be fine.” 

With how Mingyu fought at camp half blood, Minghao has no doubt that anyone who hides behind Wonwoo-hyung would be protected as well. He mirrored Jun’s thumbs up and quickly dashed forward to join the exciting fight. 

“Hyungs! Can you all fight neatly? It is a bit hard to aim when you all are flying everywhere in front of the Lion mouth.” Seungkwan whined loudly as his arrow narrowly missed Hoshi’s butt.

“Then why don’t you come down and fight it yourself and show me how to fight neatly?!” Hoshi retorted.

“Okay nevermind. Sorry hyung.” Seungkwan replied sullenly, looking like a kicked dog. 

See? Way more fun than PR work.

Minghao grinned as he unhook a nunchuk charm on his bracelet and gripped it in his hand. The charm expanded and turned into a life-sized weapon that sat perfectly balanced on his hand. Wonwoo had said that it’s fur is strong, so he had sheathed his sword and chose his nunchuck. Since it was a blunt weapon, it shouldn't break easily against the Nemean Lion. 

He smashed his nunchuk onto the hind leg of the Nemean Lion, only to find his imperial-bronze nunchuk shattered into pieces. 

_...Oops…?_

He heard a loud, affronted gasp from the audience area. A quick glance told him that it was Mingyu. Which was not surprising, seeing that the nunchuck that he just broke was one of the first weapons that Mingyu had crafted and sold… Minghao decided not to use any more weapons for his fight against the Lion. If he broke another weapon...Mingyu might personally break his hands, and Mighao preferred to suffer the same injury by a fight against a Nemean Lion, rather than an angry son of Hephaestus.

Minghao decided to fight using his fists, though it seemed that his hyungs were not very successful in doing that.

“Tiger uppercut…Tiger KICK...Tiger smash! Shit that hurts.” Hoshi massaged his raw fist in agony. He glared at the son of Athena in the distance. “I’m gonna kill Wonwoo after this. I’m so gonna drown him.”

“You might wanna try tiger strangle.” Woozi suggested, calmly intefering with Hoshi’s murder plans. The son of Hades had his shadows around the lion’s neck, but the Lion kept bucking and attacking Woozi, which prevented him from using his shadows to strangle it. Woozi kept using his shadows to restrain the Lion’s movements that he was starting to look really dead. His skins which were usually white, were now a little too translucent to be considered normal. 

“Taste my tiger whack!” Hoshi once again tried to hit the lion but to no avail. 

“Hoshi-hyung...you ain’t a tiger. You’re a Demigod.” Minghao muttered.

“I’m a Demigod Tiger!”

After that, Minghao gave up on correcting his hyung. Instead, he focused on trying to climb up to the Lion’s head. 

To his delight, vines started growing and curling around the Lion’s legs, trapping it for a few seconds. Luckily, a few seconds was all he needed to reach the top of the Lion. Noticing the intruder, the monster started shaking it’s head violently in its attempts to dislodge Minghao. The son of Ares had to hold onto it’s mane for his dear life. The lion’s mane was so strong that even though he was only grabbing a small little clump, it was strong enough to support his entire weight. 

The additional passengers did not slow the Lion down at all. Instead, it went running at full speed.

“Wonwoo-hyung….it is coming towards us!” DK pointed as he and Jun started hiding behind Wonwoo. Annabeth had started trying to limp forward with her dagger, while Qi Tong was literally wrestling her back. Mingyu stood bravely in front of Wonwoo, both hands were already on fire. 

“Mingyu! Don’t you dare blast your fireball while I’m up here!” Minghao shouted, remembering the times where Mingyu had nearly burned the campers to death because of...accidents. 

Hoshi and Woozi tried to pry open the lion’s mouth, but they only managed to make it show it’s teeth. Vernon and Seungkwan didn’t waste any moments and started shooting at it. Within minutes, the Lion’s teeth looked as if it had multiple toothpicks sticking on it. Unsurprisingly, the Nemean Lion got angrier. It was now directly in front of Mingyu and Annabeth. 

Fire danced in the air, as Mingyu started shooting at the Lion, herding it away from the injured and towards the PR team. 

“Mingyu what’re you doing? Jeonghan-hyung watch out!!” Hoshi shouted as they moved closer and closer to the gathering of mortal teens that were watching. Like the idiot they are, the humans cheered a little, when they got to see some "action". Minghao wondered if stupidity could be the cause of extinction. If it could, then humans might go extinct soon.

Jeonghan heard his name and turned around. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the Nemean Lion charging towards him and the innocent humans behind him.

“I should’ve done this earlier...Jeonghan-hyung! Get it to open its mouth!” shouted Mingyu. 

Understanding his friend’s plan, Minghao quickly crawled nearer towards the Lion’s head. Seeing that the monster was now turned away from the archers’ range, it was up to him to somehow damage its mouth. The jiggling of his earring, told him exactly what he should do.

Up ahead, Jeonghan was visibly glowing, as he commanded the lion to roar. Next to him, Joshua’s eyes glowed along as he amplified his brother’s command. The lion slowed down it’s charge, before letting out an ear splitting roar. 

Minghao was about to pull his grenade earring off, when a _rocket_ flew straight into the Nemean Lion’s mouth. 

Did somebody use his rocket launcher without permission?

He had no time to ask, because the lion gave a confused burp before it exploded. Yes, it exploded while Minghao was _still_ on top of it. 

Minghao only had a second to feel irritated that his prey had been stolen, before he was flung away. Actually, everyone in the vicinity was blown away, due to the following explosion. 

When he regained consciousness, there was a strong ringing in Minghao’s ear as he tried to recover from the blast. Who the hell uses a grenade launcher to shoot into the mouth of the Nemean Lion, while other people were _nearby_?

“Ming..ao! ... yo.. O...ay? M..in...hao...yo….the...re…” 

He looked up and Jeonghan's worried face filled his vision. His hyung’s face had some soot on it but overall, he still looked like an angel. Joshua, Dino and Yuna were with the mortals...calming them down maybe? The explosion happened so close to them….Minghao wondered how the Mist would spin the story this time. A bunch of kids exploding a dog or something? He hoped not. Minghao does not support animal cruelty at all.

Jeonghan was saying something, but his words sounded like they were underwater.

“Se...un...kwan...He...nee...he...p” 

He saw Seungkwan rushing over, fear written all over his face as he started to check on him. He stared at him blankly and suddenly, all sound came back to him.

“Jeonghan-hyung, he’s just a little shell shocked and well, a little cooked...but luckily, it's nothing I can’t fix.” replied Seungkwan. 

“Oh thank god! I thought we’re gonna lose another one. I just...sorry.” said Jeonghan as he exhaled a long breath. Minghao noted how tense the son of Aphrodite is, as he raked his fingers through his hair. 

Minghao turned around and saw Hoshi in Woozi’s arms…they both looked a little burnt, but otherwise they seemed fine. Mingyu was lying on the ground, not burned but clearly tired from his earlier mad dash. Wonwoo rushed over to him, while DK and Jun followed closely behind.

Still, Minghao did not see an answer to the question that weighed heavily on his mind.

“Alright, who used my rocket launcher without permission?!” he asked, causing everyone to fall silent. 

A distant cough echoed in the now-silent park. “Erm...That would be me. Though the grenade launcher that I used is mine, not yours.” 

A man appeared on top of a mechanical-looking boat. His shoulder length curly black hair and cheeky grin made him appear friendly, while his tanned skin reminded Minghao of Mingyu. The man surveyed them and flashed an elf-like grin when he spotted Annabeth and Grover. 

“Hi guys! The name’s Leo Valdez and the pleasure is all yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We love Hoshi & Wonwoo's frenemies thingy. Its adorable~  
> And yes, Leo Valdez has arrived. Such a fun character to write^^ Expect more of him in the next chapt!  
> Updates might be slower now...we hope for ur understanding...  
> Comments & Kudos r much appreciated. Thank You~


	14. Ch13 - Leo’s Lair of Love (Joshua)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, yes we're still alive.  
> Second, I'm so sorry for the late chapter TvT Life had been hetic lately.  
> Lastly, Pls pardon our mistakes if you spot any! Pls enjoy this chapter~

The sun is shining, the park is beautiful, the Nemean Lion is angry, and the Mortals in front of him showed no sign of leaving.

“So...are you free after this? Wanna go grab lunch together? I know a great place nearby!” said one of the girls that surrounded him. She was giggling and kept tucking her hair behind her ears, as if the gesture was some sort of sexy, flirting technique.

Joshua wanted to pull out his PowerPoint presentation and teach her the _real_ seduction techniques. 

The son of Aphrodite tried not to cringe at all the blatant flirting he had received so far. The pickup lines he had heard, were either so utterly boring or down right cringy. Nonetheless, Joshua _is_ raised as a polite kid, so he smiled on. “Sorry my lady, I still have things to do after this.”

Instead of calming down, his rejection seemed to excite the girls more as they started squealing and fawning all over him. At this point, he was sure that this crowd of mortals were more interested in the Aphrodite twins, rather than their initial, movie-filming excuse. Joshua turned to seek his brother, hoping that maybe he could lend him a hand.

...Only to find his twin brother, in a worse state than him.

Jeonghan had an angelic smile on face, seemingly engrossed in a conversation with the other girls, but the popping vein in his neck told a different story. The girls surrounding Jeonghan were also heavily flirting and acting like rabid fans. 

Indeed, their mother’s blessing is hard to restrain and is even harder to control. They couldn’t simply switch it on and off, and so the twins often _unconsciously_ , charmed the people around them. Their charmed victims bore a temporary mark on their skin — a greek omega sign with a heart in the middle — which will disappear when the charm is lifted. The stronger their targets are, the more resistant they will be. And these teenage mortals in front of them, are anything _but_ resistant.

Dino had stepped forward to try and create some distance between the twins and the charmed boys and girls. Yes, Dino... _tried_. Last Joshua checked, their poor maknae was getting squished and shoved to the back by the crowd that were charmed by Jeonghan. 

A perfectly manicured hand, touched his arm without permission. “Do tell me more about your film~ I would love to hear your beautiful voice again!”

Joshua shot her a warning look, before stepping back and removing her hands. Sadly, the girl completely missed his look, as she was blushing and staring at her hand that he had touched. 

He summoned the flattest tone he could muster. “It’s about a dog fighting against the cruelty of humans. Now please excuse us, we need to get back to our team.” 

Hopefully that was enough to show that he wasn’t interested in them. Joshua turned around, about to leave the crowd behind, when yet another intrusive hand grabbed his arm. 

“Don’t be like that cutie. Are you the producer of this movie? Wait I know, you’re the actor right? I would definitely watch whatever this movie is, if you are in it.” said some guy with a red varsity jacket. He even _winked_ at the end of his sentence.

Joshua wanted to pull out his hidden dagger and stab his hand. He should have stayed with the monster-terminating group, instead of joining the crowd-control group. Fighting monsters seemed easier than talking to a group of mortal teenagers.

Luckily, Yuna came to his rescue. Like a knight in shining armor, or maybe like a bodyguard in a black suit? The daughter of Hermes put herself between Joshua and the crowd, before slapping away all the grabby hands that were trying to touch the son of Aphrodite. Her glare seemed to subdue the crowd’s chatter.

Bless this girl. Joshua silently promised to buy her lunch next time.

Then Hoshi’s voice rang clear across the park. “Mingyu what’re you doing? Jeonghan-hyung watch out!!” 

Everyone turned around, and like the idiots they are, the mortals teenagers cheered when they saw what was happening.

Unfortunately, Joshua did not share the same sentiment.

Because Mingyu was sprinting towards _them_ , with the Nemean Lion hot on his heels. Minghao was just barely hanging onto the Lion as it bounded across the park, while Woozi, Hoshi, Vernon and Seungkwan were busy chasing after the escaped Lion. 

Any other time, Joshua would have laughed at Hoshi’s loud shouts of tiger-themed attacks, or at Seungkwan’s sassy orders for the Lion to turn around so he could shoot at it. Sadly, Joshua couldn’t appreciate those comical scenes, because...did he mention that the huge-ass Lion was heading straight _towards_ them?

“...Jeonghan-hyung! Get it to open its mouth!” Shouted Mingyu, who was almost reaching them.

Joshua turned his head, just in time to catch his brother’s gaze above the crowd. Twins turned back to face the Mortals and spoke in unison.

_**“Everyone, move 8 steps backwards and stay there.”** _

The omega-love mark glowed brightly and the crowd immediately obeyed their words. Sure, maybe they should have done this earlier, so that Dino wouldn’t have to suffer so much. But using their powers deliberately _is_ taxing. And teasing Dino _is_ fun, so Joshua didn’t see the need to use their powers then.

But the situation is different now. Once the command for the mortals had been issued, the Twins turned back at the incoming Lion. Once again, they spoke at the same time.

_**“Open your mouth and let us hear you roar!”** _

Jeonghan was visibly glowing with a bright pink aura, and Joshua knew that a similar glow surrounded him too, especially his eyes. With his excellent eyesight, Joshua saw the omega-love mark appear on the Nemean Lion’s skin for a few seconds. 

It worked. 

The Nemean lion slowed down to a stop and opened its mouth to let out an ear splitting roar. Joshua had the front row seat of the Lion’s gaping maw, sharp white fangs, and even felt the light drizzle of its saliva, raining around him.

Ugh, great. Now he smelled like a wet dog. He hoped that his friends would kill this thing soon.

Maybe Zeus heard his pleas, or maybe that Jesus guy is real. But whatever it was, his wish soon came true. A rocket suddenly zinged past his head and flew straight into the Lion’s unguarded mouth. Like a violent cartoon, the Nemean Lion gave a confused burp, before exploding like a balloon. 

Blood and flesh splattered around the park before it all disintegrated into dust, leaving only a beautiful golden pelt on the ground. 

Well...the pelt wasn’t the _only_ thing the Nemean Lion left behind. It left behind a trail of injured Demigods too.

Minghao, who was (sorta) riding the lion, was flung backwards and landed harshly on the cold hard ground. The wounds from his previous battles must have reopened as pools of bloodstain, blossomed across his branded outfit. Standing a few feet behind the bleeding son of Ares, was Woozi and Hoshi. Joshua’s excellent eyesight had caught sight of the moment when Woozi had pulled Hoshi in, and used his shadows to shield both of them from the explosion. Luckily, both seemed to have escaped serious injuries, although Woozi looked as if he was about to pass out on Hoshi.

Joshua couldn’t help but feel pleased at the relationship between those two. It was all progressing according to their plan. Joshua’s a son of Aphrodite after all. He can’t help it if he _ships_ them.

But playing cupid will come later. Right now, they’ve got to play doctor first. 

With resigned reluctance, Joshua watched as his older twin ran towards the injured members. Jeonghan nearly tripped twice and his hand started bleeding again but still, he continued running while screaming for Seungkwan to come and help the others. Joshua understood his brother’s worry, but he wished that Jeonghan would take care of himself too. At this rate, Jeonghan’s gonna pull some stupid, self-sacrificing move and gets himself killed, before they even reached the final boss. Joshua’s here to make sure _that_ didn’t happen.

Luckily, their party had some of the very best healers Joshua had ever met. Seungkwan and Qi Tong were already inspecting their injured comrades. Joshua wanted to rush over as well, but he had to calm the panicking humans behind him. An agitated crowd is dangerous if left alone and might even cause them troubles later on.

Donning on his gentlest smile, Joshua turned around and exudes a calming and zen aura. With his eyes, he could see how the crowd’s agitated orange aura was slowly turning to serene blue. Joshua may not have the power of charmspeak, but his eyes and his aura-controlling ability always worked best in crowds. 

“Everyone, please remain calm. It’s just a minor accident, there’s nothing to worry about.” 

In seconds, the blue aura engulfed the entire crowd and people began to relax. Joshua threw an imploring look to the two children of Hermes nearby, and they did not disappoint. Dino and Yuna acted like a pair of cute, shortie, bodyguards as they stepped up and shooed the crowd away from the explosion scene.

“Alright, who used my rocket launcher without my permission?!” Ah, it seemed that Minghao was feeling better than he looked if he could scream like that.

“Erm...That would be me. Though the grenade launcher that I used is mine, not yours.” 

A voice he did not recognize joined the conversation and Joshua, along with the children of Hermes, whirled around to identify the newcomer.

A mechanical-looking boat…? Plane? House? Joshua didn’t know what vehicle it was, but it looked like a cross between a luxury yacht and a house with wings. Even if it was big, the vehicle made no sound as it approached them. Alongside it’s frame, the word _“ARGO X”_ was etched in silver, while at the forefront of the vehicle sat a beautifully crafted dragon statue, made of bronze. 

Standing proudly next to the dragon statue was a tanned, middle-aged man. His unkempt, curly black hair, a scar near his left eye and the cheeky grin he flashed at them, reminded Joshua of a fun and cool uncle everyone wished they have. 

“Hi guys! The name’s Leo Valdez and the pleasure is all yours.”

A stunned silence descended on the park, before it was broken by Annabeth’s happy shout.

“LEO!”

Seeing that the newcomer was Annabeth’s friend, put the Demigods at ease. The other members returned to their earlier tasks, and Joshua turned away to do the same. But the crowds’ not getting smaller and with Jeonghan gone, all eyes seemed to target Joshua.

Uh-oh. Time for a tactical retreat.

“Err..ah, Wonwoo! Hey, could you please help Dino and Yuna here…?”

Joshua silently begged with the son of Athena with his doe eyes and thankfully — even though he looked really reluctant — his Junior gave a long sigh of acceptance. 

“Fine...you looked like you’re suffering hyung. Go and check on the others. I’ll take over here.”

Ah, falling in love had really made Wonwoo warmer. Joshua was so glad that his and Jeonghan’s efforts to match him with Mingyu did not go to waste! The son of Aphrodite shot Wonwoo a grateful look and even threw in a prayer to his mother, so that the couple’s relationship would remain everlasting, before fleeing the crowd and heading straight to Seungkwan and his two patients. 

“Hey Seungkwan, is everything-”

“If you’re not dying, don’t talk to me hyung. I’m hungry, tired and _pissed_ , cause I’ve been chasing after a ginormous Lion and now, I have to heal idiots who _ignored_ my advice.”

Joshua froze in surprise and glanced up at Jeonghan, who quickly shook his head and gestured to zip his lips.

“Err...I just wanna tell you that Jeonghan’s bleeding and in case he didn’t tell you, he overused his powers again so do give him-”

“A vitamin shot or something to boost his immune system. Yes I know, Shua-hyung. I know about the bleeding too. I’ll patch him up after Minghao-hyung ok? Now get your worried ass to Qi Tong. Since you know first-aid, you should go help her.”

Like a dejected rabbit, Joshua made his way to their youngest healer.

Qi Tong welcomed him with a tired smile. She looked somewhat determined, as she sat firmly on top of Annabeth's legs, while healing her. The daughter of Athena was sitting upright with a death glare on the healer. 

“Erm, is everything okay here?” Joshua asked hesitantly.

Qi Tong’s smile turned slightly icy. “If I don’t have to wrestle my patient down to the ground, I think I would’ve felt better.” She turned to Annabeth and beamed, “Right Annabeth-nim?” 

Joshua hid a smile behind his hands. “Seungkwan sent me here since I knew basic first-aid. Anything I can help you with?” 

The daughter of Apollo smiled gratefully, before nodding towards an unconscious Seungcheol and Grover. “I’ve already looked at them and they’re fine now. Could you just help me bandage their heads? I meant to do it soon but Annabeth’s taking longer than expected…”

They both ignored Annabeth’s “I’m fine” grumblings and immediately went to work. 

While bandaging the injured, Joshua took this chance to see if Wonwoo managed to deal with the annoying crowd. Luckily, most of the mortals seemed to have left the park, but there was still a group of teenagers who seemed insistent to stay. 

Actually...some of the girls were now blatantly flirting with Wonwoo, even though they were flirting with Jeonghan and Joshua just minutes ago. Ah, Love can be such a fickle thing...but Joshua believed that true love will prevail in the end! The younger twin watched with glee as Mingyu arrived on the scene and skillfully intimidated the teenagers away, as if he was some bouncer at a nightclub. And with Dino and Yuna’s help, the last of the crowd was finally dispersed.

Once the mortals left and the injured treated (or bandaged), the Leo person finally came down from his weird vehicle.

“Alright guys. No monster to fight and no mortals in sight! Looks like a good time to get outta here. Come boys and girls, all aboard my pirate ship!”

Hoshi, who had been inching closer and closer to the vehicle, was the first to stand in front of its entrance. The son of Poseidon was staring at the ship in awe while hoping up and down. 

“Is that-?! Could it be-?!”

Leo gave him a wink. “Why yes! It’s the Argo boat series. Do you like it?”

“OMG, HELL YESSSS!!”

Next to meet Leo was Annabeth, who was mostly healed but still wrapped in bandages.

“Hey Annabeth. Wow, you look like shit.” Though the words were flippant, Leo’s eyes were full of affection.

Annabeth chuckled good-naturedly. “Yeah, Good to see you too Leo. I heard that you saved my children.”

The tanned man grinned boyishly. “I didn’t do much. Just picked them up from school and locked them up in my secret lair.”

“Thank you.”

Leo engulfed her in a warm hug, “Don’t worry about it. It’s the least I could do for you and Percy.” 

After that, he helped Annabeth hobble up the boat, while the rest of them started to carry the other injured demigods into said vehicle. 

Mingyu and DK supported a half-conscious Minghao into the flying boat-house. Behind them, Jun, Wonwoo and Dino were hauling a totally-passed-out Seungcheol with much difficulty. Yuna and Seungkwan guided a fatigued Jeonghan and Woozi on board, while Vernon was asked to carry the rest of their bags, luggages and medical supplies. That left Joshua and Qi Tong who were tasked to carry Grover's unconscious body up the vehicle. 

Who knew that a satyr would be this heavy? Joshua had half the mind to just drag the unconscious satyr by his legs. But a warning glare from Qi Tong, convinced him to dutifully carry the patient. He’ll just recommend some dieting plans to Grover later.

Once they were all up onto the floating boat, Seungkwan quickly gathered all the wounded demigods together under a shade, so that they could recuperate comfortably. But as he swept his meticulous, brown eyes over them, the dark clouds that had been hanging over his head seemed to grow darker. Seungkwan’s face seemed to grow redder and redder, and no one — not even the healthy ones — dared to look at him in the eyes. 

“Qi Tong, could you please prepare some tonic for Woozi and Jeonghan? That’ll save our vitamin shots for now.” Seungkwan said flatly. The younger girl nodded and dutifully carried out her task.

The sullen son of Apollo then remained eerily silent, as he slowly walked around his injured members. Suddenly, he stopped in front of Hoshi, whose bandaged hands looked a lot more like a wrapped rice ball, from one of those Japanese mangas that Joshua often reads.

“Who...Who, in the name of sweet merciful Apollo, bandaged your hands like that?” 

Hoshi blinked at Seungkwan, before wriggling his bandaged, rice ball hands towards Woozi.

The guilty son of Hades tried to act innocent, but they all knew it was futile when Seungkwan started fanning himself. Everyone except for Leo, prepared themselves for the inevitable. 

Sure enough, Seungkwan erupted like Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

“Hoshi-hyung, why do you keep punching the lion?! You think you’re a tiger? Wait, don’t even answer that. Did you think you’re Hercules? Even Hercules would change tactics once he realised that brute force doesn't work, so why do you keep repeating tiger punch, or tiger kick, here and there?!”

Hoshi opened his mouth — probably to argue — but they never heard it as Wonwoo quickly stuffed a piece of bread into Hoshi’s mouth, effectively shutting him up. The son of Athena gave a smug grin before slowly shuffling back to the non-injured area, where the rest of the team continued watching Seungkwan’s one-man nagging show.

“Love! L.O.V.E. How many times do I need to say this? You all need to love your body! Are y’all masochists? Do you enjoy getting hurt? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Please let me know if you do, because I will then send you to Tartarus myself!”

Next to him, Wonwoo leaned in to whisper. "Doesn't he ever get tired of nagging at us?"

Joshua raised his eyebrow judgingly. "Did he ever _not_ remind you to take vitamins daily?" 

Wonwoo fell silent for a moment, before the realization dawned on him. "No...he still does it everyday...since _two years_ ago..." 

Joshua nodded in mock-sympathy. “There you go. There are 3 things in life that I’m certain of; 90% of my problems are Jeonghan's fault, True love exists and Seungkwan will never stop nagging.”

While Wonwoo left to ponder about his words, the enigma called Vernon sat a little way off from where he was seated. Sensing an opportunity to create a new couple, Joshua shifted closer to his target.

"Hey Vernon. What do you think about our Seungkwan?" asked Joshua, keeping his voice as casual as possible. 

The hunter looked a bit startled by Joshua’s approach, but his expression soon turned thoughtful as he answered cautiously. "Well…he seemed like a good healer who...really cared about his friends?“

Joshua nodded encouragingly. "He’s indeed our best healer. Seungkwan’s kind and thought-”

A loud noise made the two boys pause. They watched silently as Seungkwan continued to yell mental health and wellbeing into the injured members. Joshua internally cringed at the brute display and tried to salvage Seungkwan’s image before it was completely burnt to the ground.

“Yeah, Seungkwan’s kindness can be a bit... _intense_ at times...”

To his surprise, Vernon gave a small smile. “It’s ok, I don’t mind it.”

Oh? Maybe this ship wasn’t hopeless after all. Joshua continued on, hoping to hear something better for their Love Bet- err, for their kind, lonely Seungkwan. 

“Oh really? Some of our campers said that too, but then they talked behind Seungkwan’s back and even called him an ugly banshee.”

Vernon’s impassive face formed a small frown of disapproval. “That’s not true. Seungkwan’s cute. His voice sounds nice too.”

Hallelujah! There’s still hope for Seungkwan! They are _so_ gonna win this bet. Joshua smiled brightly. “I’m glad you think so. I hope you can get along well with him.”

Suddenly, the volume increased again and the two boys looked up just in time to see the subject of their conversation, hollering at the captain of their weird, flying ship-house.

“AND YOU, MR. CURLY HAIR! How could you shoot the rocket launcher into the Lion’s mouth when Minghao was still _on_ it? Who are you trying to kill, the Lion or the Demigod?!” 

Mr. Curly Hair Leo let out a surprised, indignant squawk, before quickly gesturing towards Minghao. “No, wait! _He_ was about to throw a grenade earring into the lion's mouth _first_. So no matter what, that Lion’s destined to explode! The Ares kid will still get hurt, so it’s hardly my fault!” 

Seungkwan let out a long-suffering sigh. “Then I would’ve scolded Minghao for being the idiot, and not you! Good grief, listen to yourselves! Why are y’all so eager to get hurt? Can’t you guys fight cautiously like Vernon? Look at that handsome face that’s devoid of injuries!” 

All eyes turned to Vernon, who stared blankly at them before tilting his head in question. 

Oh for Aphrodite’s sake. Joshua might as well buy Seungkwan one of those “Notice me Senpai!” shirts, then add Vernon’s name in, just in case he still doesn’t get it. Seungkwan might be obvious but little Vernon sure is _oblivious_. Is their ship doomed after all? Maybe Joshua should enlist his brother for help...

But before he could move towards Jeonghan, a familiar-sounding bleat filled the ship.

‘B-baah...Where am I? What did I miss?”

“Why hello Mr Grover. Welcome back to the land of consciousness.” Seungkwan greeted sweetly, “You got smacked in the head and fainted. _Again_.”

Grover cringed at the Son of Apollo’s false cheer and gave him an apologetic, sheepish smile in return. But to no avail, he still ended up joining Seungkwan’s nagging spree.

With Grover moving out of the way, Joshua had a direct view of a not-so-unconcious Seungcheol. The son of Zeus gave a tiny squint and pleaded silently to him, probably asking Joshua to calm Seungkwan down using his aura abilities. 

Yes, Joshua _could_ do that. But that doesn’t mean that he _will_ do it. The younger twin simply gave his friend a sweet smile and shrugged, as though he had no idea what Seungcheol meant. But after receiving persistent, threatening looks from the other, Joshua finally gave in with a sigh.

“Kwannie, Seungcheol-hyung is awake but he’s asking me to get Qi Tong because he didn’t want to face you.” Said Joshua with a worried tone.

“He said WHAT!?” roared Seungkwan.

“I said WHAT?!” yelled Seungcheol.

Seungkwan turned to look at Seungcheol, who looked like a little lamb to slaughter. 

“I didn’t say that Seungkwan-yah!” denied Seungcheol hastily.

Joshua wiped a fake tear from his eyes. “Sorry hyung but Seungkwan has more experience than Qi Tong. I think he should check up on you first. We were _so_ worried!”

“Shua, you lying piece of-”

“Oh really? _Who’s_ the one lying here, _Seungcheol-hyung_?”

“No, no, Seungkwan this isn’t- I didn’t-”

Joshua chuckled as he watched the mini-chaos he just created. He’ll let Seungkwan scold the son of Zeus a bit more, before calming him down later. Several members who were still awake, were also laughing at those two, lifting up the overall mood on the flying ship. Across his seat, Jeonghan flashed him a sleepy grin and gave him a thumbs up. 

All in all, their trip on the Argo X was relaxing and entertaining. Most members chose to sleep, huddling close to one another and using each others’ laps and stomachs as a pillow, creating a big sleeping pile in the middle of the deck. Others, like Mingyu, Leo, Hoshi and Annabeth, chose to remain awake. 

The last sight Joshua saw before he fell asleep was Mingyu and Leo, who were both talking animatedly, while pointing at different parts of the ship. Behind them, Hoshi was simply hovering along with starry eyes glued to Leo. Annabeth chose to remain on the edge of the deck, stormy grey eyes on a look out for something else besides the white clouds that surrounded them.

The next time Joshua opened his eyes was due to Leo’s wake up call.

“Rise and shine Guys! We’re landing soon!”

The building that they were descending to, looked like a typical warehouse-turned-car-repair shop in America. It was a low building, only two storeys high, with dark blue striped walls that reminded Joshua of shipping containers. But what it lacked in height, was made up by its width. The warehouse was wide, and right in the middle of it, was an open-air helipad that they were aiming to land. 

The floating boat soon landed and Leo hopped off the boat with a proud smile. “Welcome all, to my ultimate, super cool, super awesome home...Welcome to Leo’s Lair of Love!”

The silence that followed was very telling, as everyone could only stare dumbly at Leo’s silly introduction. 

“For the umpteenth time, we agreed _not_ to call it Leo’s Lair. Don’t make me revoke your dinner rights, Leo.”

An ethereal-looking lady, with soft, caramel hair and dark almond-shaped eyes, walked up towards them. With a few clicks from her watch, a metallic bridge appeared from the second-floor railings, connecting the building’s floor to the flying ship.

Leo all but ran to her. “My queen! My lovely wife! My mamacita! My moon! My sun-”

She smiled fondly but still smacked Leo on the arm to shut him up. The lady then turned to them for introduction. "Hello, my name is Calypso. Welcome to Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters." 

“I think Leo’s Lair still has a nicer ring to it.”

“No, it does not. And you’re late.”

A flash of mirth crossed Leo’s eyes. “Sorry Sunshine. The traffic was murder.”

Though the conversation seemed normal enough, Leo’s answer somehow flustered Calypso, as a blush started forming on her face. She smacked Leo on the arm again when he started laughing at her.

Joshua held back the urge to coo at the couple before him. Surely, there must be a story behind that exchange. The son of Aphrodite vowed to find out the full love story between these two.

"I-In any case, I’m glad to see all of you. Come on in, you’re just in time for dinner." 

They passed through a couple of rooms — all filled with different machines, screens and tools that made Hoshi’s and Mingyu’s eye sparkle — before they reached a door labeled “Dining Hall”.

The moment they entered the hall, voices of people talking and laughing, coupled with the delicious smell of food, filled their senses. Joshua almost gasped out loud at the sight. Around 50 or more people of various ages were sitting around two long dining tables, placed in the middle of the room. Judging by the various wounds and weapons that they were carrying, all of these people were demigods.

A few demigods fell silent when they saw the newcomers, eyeing them wearily in distrust. But the majority of them simply gave their group a nod or a wave, before resuming eating and chatting with their friends. Calypso led them to one end of the table, where an empty spot seemed to have been prepared for their group.

As they were approaching their seats, two children ran towards them. The taller boy had disheveled honey-blonde hair, while the shorter one had curly jet black hair. Both boys ran straight into Annabeth’s open arms.

“MOM!!!”

The daughter of Athena swept her sons into a teary embrace. “Alfie! Zeki! Oh thank Olympus, you’re both alright!”

Both boys nodded to confirm their well-being. They remained in their mother’s arms for a few seconds before a soft voice interrupted. “Mommy...? Where’s daddy?”

The moment shattered, and it felt as if they were all doused by cold water. 

Sadness, pain and reluctance flashed across Annabeth’s grey eyes. “My baby...Zeki dear, your dad…Percy is-”

“ADVENTURE!” shouted the older son suddenly. Everyone looked at the blonde boy who had turned to face his younger brother. With the brightest sea-green eyes that Joshua had ever seen, the boy continued his explanation. “Zeki, D-daddy’s off on an adventure!”

Stormy-grey eyes flashed as Zeki stared silently at his brother before tilting his head. “And...he can’t be here now? But we’re all here. Even uncle Grover’s here, so why isn’t daddy here too?”

Grover winced as if in pain, while Annabeth bit her lips nervously. If Alfie had inherited Percy’s easy-going, kind personality, then one could say that Zeki inherited her intuitive, sharp wits. However, Zeki’s _only_ six years old. Annabeth didn’t want to drive him to tears with the news of Percy’s...death.

“I...Zeki, mom will explain it to you…let's have dinner first okay? Then-” 

“No.” The black haired boy slowly shook his head. His face had retreated into a mask of coldness, and only his trembling lips betrayed his real distress. “I knew it...Daddy’s...dead?” 

Joshua couldn’t stop his soft gasp of surprise. For a kid at Zeki’s age, to understand the concept of death...and to calmly guess his own father’s death...Joshua didn’t think he could’ve done it at that age. 

When Annabeth nodded reluctantly, Zeki gave his own jerky nod. 

Then he turned away and bolted out of the room.

“Ze- D-don’t worry Mom, I’ll talk to him! Zeki wait!” And just like that, both sons of the Legendary Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, ran out of the dining hall.

Annabeth’s grey eyes were moist but she fought to keep her tears in, as Calypso comforted her. Leo stood by awkwardly on the side before clearing his throat. “Well, you guys must be hungry. Sit tight, I'll get your food now." 

A minute later, their host returned with an adult Cyclops, who was juggling massive plates of food behind him. Joshua’s hand instinctively grabbed the knife that was placed next to his plate.

“...Tyson?!” 

“Annabeth! Grover!” The Cyclops greeted his old friends as he lumbered clumsily towards them. Luckily, none of the food was dropped. The Cyclops had safely placed the food on the table before giving Annabeth and Grover a big, tight, hug that looked really painful to Joshua. 

The younger son of Aphrodite watched with interest as more and more people greeted the Daughter of Athena and the Satyr. A pregnant, dark-skinned lady with curly cinnamon hair had come over to hug them. Trailing behind her was a tall, muscular asian man, who looked intimidating for about three seconds, before he was busy wiping the tears that escaped from his eyes. They all gathered around Annabeth and Grover, and started sharing their stories. 

Joshua learned that most of the demigods in the room were survivors from the Godslayer’s attack of the Romans demigod camp. The pregnant lady, Hazel Levesque, and her Asian husband, Frank Zhang, were former praetors of Camp Jupiter. 

The Godslayer had attacked Camp Jupiter together with a gigantic monster — something about a terrifying centipede — and a little boy...? Apparently, the three of them slaughtered most of the campers there. They were only able to survive when one of their former Praetor organized a team of older demigods to stay back and buy time for the younger campers to escape. Hazel and Frank were entrusted to lead the younger campers to safety since they knew the location of Leo’s safe house. They had arrived last week and since then, no news was heard from their devastated camp. All those that stayed back were presumed dead.

The news of more deaths weighed all of them down like dark thunder clouds. And in Joshua’s case, he could _literally_ see the gray-black aura of sadness, pressing down on them. He cleared his throat and tried to change the topic. “So Leo-nim, I believe we owe you a thank you for rescuing us today. Were you just passing by and saw us by chance?”

Sure enough, Leo brightened at the mention of his ‘rescue’. 

“Ah, no problem! As you all have heard, the Godslayer destroyed our two main camps in the US so...we know that a lot of demigods are on the run. Then we heard that a Nemean Lion was sighted in Strongsville, which might pose a problem to fleeing demigods that were trying to reach us. So...I went to get rid of it.” Leo shrugged nonchalantly, as if killing a Nemean Lion was something he does everyday. 

Sitting across from him, Frank snorted. “Yeah right. You went out to _investigate_ , not kill. No way you can take a Nemean Lion by yourself.”

Before Leo could retort, Minghao raised his hand. “S’cuse me. He _did_ kill the Lion, but it was more of him, _stealing_ my kill at the end.”

The adults around them looked at Minghao as if he had just grown a second head. Seungcheol looked as if he was about to faint. A moment passed in silence before Frank smiled cheerfully. “I like him. I think we’ll get along _great_.”

Leo gasped in mock-anger. “Oh the audacity-! The slander-! I should’ve known that you two, sons of Ares are plotting against me-”

“I don’t think we need to plot much, since you don’t look like a fight-”

Seungcheol slapped his hand over Minghao’s mouth. “I’m sorry, I think he’s so tired that he’s speaking _nonsense_ now. Can we wash up for the night and talk more tomorrow? I think all of us need a bath. We really smell like death and blood.” 

After a few snickers at Leo’s expense, Calypso called a few other demigods to lead them to their respective destinations. Some of them decided to bathe first, while others chose to explore the place. Joshua chose to follow the place tour, led by an Indian demigod who was the son of Asclepius. Apparently, the demigod was the head doctor in a mortal hospital, who was indebted to Leo. When the Godslayer attacked, he didn't hesitate to quit his day job and follow Leo. 

While his story was heart-warming, there were others that are completely opposite.

Entered Drew Tanaka. A daughter of Aphrodite, a model for Vogue Magazine, a half-Asian, and a full-time _asshole_. Their tour group accidentally bumped into Drew and her followers, and dear Cupid’s underpants, Joshua hadn’t felt the urge to wring someone’s neck as much as now. 

_“Camp Banshin…? That useless demigod camp in Korea? I thought you guys were already dead.”_

Not only did she insult their home, she also made rude remarks about Dino, Seungkwan and DK appearances, while also mocking Seungcheol’s position as their leader. Jeonghan had a dark look of a fallen angel out for vengeance when she finished. 

Luckily for them, Drew’s reputation among most demigods wasn't that great. Yes, she’s an asshole, but there’s also a rumor saying that Drew had ran away from Camp Half-blood, an hour before the battle against Godslayer commenced. Nobody knew what happened for sure, but Joshua’s willing to bet that the rumor is true.

Either way, by tomorrow morning, Drew Tanaka might wake up without hair. A pair of scissors that Joshua saw his brother concealed in his sleeves, might just be paying her a visit tonight.

Other than Drew Tanaka and her gang, everyone else was friendly and helpful. After all of them had showered, Leo and Calypso brought out barrels of wine to celebrate everyone’s survival, as well as a small welcome party for Camp Banshin. 

Unable to turn down their goodwill, Seungcheol made all those of age to take a glass of wine. Ironically, only the son of Dionysus profusely rejected the idea. Jun even made a run for it, before disappearing into the night, hiding in god-knows-where. 

As the night stretches on, more and more people excused themselves to go to bed. Joshua was one of the last Camp Banshin campers to exit the dining hall, after bidding their gracious hosts and the Zhang couple a good night. On the way back to his assigned room, a tune in a familiar tongue, tickled his ear. 

_**— Na honjaman saranghaetdeon geolkkabwa —**_

The melodious voice seemed to draw Joshua in and before he knew it, he was walking towards its source. 

In the corner of a dimly lit room, DK sat on the floor, facing towards an opened window. He was cradling a plant or a herb, that was growing in tune with the song that he was singing.

_**— Na honjaseo saranghaetdeon geot gata —** _

The son of Aphrodite couldn’t help but admire the sight before him. Bathed in moonlight, while singing freely without a care, DK looked more like an angel than his brother ever was. Joshua walked quietly up to the other, wishing to get closer to the pure melody.

Unfortunately, DK must’ve sensed something, as he chose that moment to turn around. Brown eyes landed on Joshua in surprise and DK screamed, his sharp notes nearly broke Joshua’s eardrums at its proximity and volume. 

“For the love of- Dokyeom, it’s me! I’m not a ghost! Please stop screaming at this hour.”

“O-omg, Shua-hyung? Sorry! Sorry! I really thought you’re a ghost.” DK apologized earnestly to him, even as his ears turned red from embarrassment.

A smile tugged at Joshua’s lips. Everything that DK do, is so full of sincerity, that you just can’t stay mad at him. He ruffled the junior’s hair and sat down next to him.

“It’s okay, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to startle you. But I have to say...that last note was _really_ high. I think my eardrums are still ringing...”

“Is it?!” DK exclaimed in panic. “I’m SO SORRY. Should I call Seungkwan? But he’s asleep. Is there anything I can do to-”

Joshua smiled like a cat that got the canary. “Why yes, there’s something that you _can_ do. Could you please continue your song? I would love to hear the whole song, or any other song that you want to sing.”

DK looked at him as if Joshua had asked him to bungee jump off a cliff. 

“C’mon, I just want to hear you sing. You can sing softly and I promised I won’t tell anyone...Please?” 

The second request seemed to snap DK out of whatever thoughts that bothered him. “W-well, I mean if you don’t mind it hyung...I-I guess I could sing it for you…” 

That night, Joshua fell asleep dreaming of angels, puppies, a bald Drew Tanaka, a warm home and of love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The model for Leo's flying boat-house-vehicle thingy is SVT's flying boat in My My MV :D  
> Imagine something like that, but with mechanical/steampunk vibes and a bronze dragon, cause that's Leo's signature style.  
>   
>   
> The song DK sang at the end was "She Didn't Love Me" by Yang Da II. Real SVT DK did sing it as a cover ^^ Its a rly nice song! Do check it out if u haven't heard it XD
> 
> So what do u guys think of this chapter? I hope u guys enjoyed the mix of SVT & PJO in this chapter ^^  
> Updates might be slower now...but we hope for ur understanding...TvT Comments & Kudos r much appreciated! Thank u :D

**Author's Note:**

> Me & my Co-author r planning to post weekly chapters for this Fic.  
> No promises though, cause life's a bitch, but we'll do our best!  
> Also, this work is beta-ed but we're not perfect so pls pardon our mistakes if u spot any.  
> We hoped you enjoyed the Fic! Feel free to comment, questions, correct or Kudos~ Any feedback is very much appreciated! Tks ^^


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